Surviving in a slump

Here’s how some local businesses are coping

By Sam Shawver, sshawver@mariettatimes.com
Words including “recession” and “economic downturn” have had more than their share of play in national headlines lately. But those terms may be a little over the top when considering the local economy.

“In terms of the cyclical national economy, parts of southeast Ohio seem almost immune to that. Our problems are more long-term, related to the local economic structure and workforce issues,” said Richard Vedder, professor of economics at Ohio University in Athens, and a former member of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

“Will there be some local impact? Yes. But we’re feeling the pinch a little less here,” he said.

Vedder noted that some bank stock is selling for 15 percent less than a couple of years ago, and earnings at many institutions are slightly down from the previous year.

“They’ve been nicked by the prime mortgage problems and declining credit issues, but local banks have not been clobbered like those on Wall Street or in larger metro areas,” he said.

Some Marietta businesses have been hurt, but others may actually benefit from the slower economy.

Andy Benson, general manager of the Holiday Inn, 701 Pike St., said there’s been a noticeable drop in his business.

“We’ve definitely seen a downturn, especially in business travelers whose numbers have been declining for more than a year,” he said. “We’re trying to fill those vacancies with leisure travelers, but it’s difficult as gas prices are having an overriding effect on all travel.”

Tony Baldwin, owner of A.A. Baldwin’s Jewelry by Design at 256 Front St., said his business seems to stay steady in spite of economic fluctuations.

“We have a little different niche,” he said. “Custom jewelry doesn’t seem to be affected by economic recessions. Right now we have 11 custom pieces we’re working on, and that’s pretty good.

“But I also buy gold,” Baldwin added.

He explained that gold, currently selling for about $900 an ounce, is a reusable, recyclable material that can be refined out of old rings, bracelets or other metal jewelry people may have discarded.

When the economy is tight people look for ways to bring in more money, and selling off unused jewelry is one way to do that.

“It does seem that people are selling off more items that they’re not wearing anymore, so I buy the old gold,” Baldwin said. “Typically with a weak dollar the price of gold and other precious metals rise. And the price of gold is going up now.”

The Food-4-Less supermarket at 110 S. Seventh St. is seeing more business, too, as a result of the economy, according to store manager Bucky Lee.

“We haven’t seen a downturn, in fact, we’re seeing a lot more customers coming in,” he said. “We’re sitting on $1 million of inventory that still has the old pricing, so we’ll be able to offer that for a while.

“But everything’s delivered on trucks, and we’ve seen almost every vendor has added some sort of markup to cover fuel costs,” Lee said. “And commodity prices on cooking oil, wheat, cereals and other grains will be increasing due largely to countries like the Chinese who are buying up more of America’s supplies.”

He said people are taking control of their pocketbooks and watching what they spend when shopping for food.

“You just have to be a good steward of the money you have,” he said.

Vedder agreed.

“We’re not totally immune to economic downturns as anyone who buys gas knows,” he said. “Also some food prices have gone up, and these issues directly affect people’s lives. But as a whole in southeast Ohio we’re in reasonably good shape.

“I think there’s been a little overreaction in the national media,” Vedder added. “This downturn has hit Wall Street more than Main Street, and we live on Main Street. So I think we shouldn’t be losing a ton of sleep over this.”