"Voices from Main Street"-The Loss of Little Luxuries
Monday, October 27, 2008SUSIE GHARIB: Just about every city and town in the U.S. has been touched in some way by the financial crisis. Lost jobs, lost homes, lost dreams. So we're visiting some of those cities and towns in a continuing series we're calling "Voices from Main Street". We want to see what's on the minds of small business owners and residents. As Dana Bate reports from suburban Washington, for now, the top worries are jobs and spending.
DANA BATE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: It's lunch time at Pal Jack's pizza on Main Street in Laurel Maryland. But these days the lunch rush is more like a lunch trickle. Raj Malhotra has owned Pal Jack's for 14 years. He says business is down 40 percent from two years ago with a 10 percent decline in the last two months alone.
RAJ MALHOTRA OWNER, PAL JACK'S PIZZA: I'm pretty sure a lot of people are buying potato chips and a drink during lunch time than buying a meal.
BATE: Malhotra is doing everything he can to stay on top in a slowing economy. He's laid off employees and he's put the brakes on attempts to expand the menu.
MALHOTRA: I was planning on getting, applying for a liquor license for this place. I had to put that on hold because that's going to require a little bit more investment that's necessary.
BATE: Even with those changes, he's still under water financially. Loyal customers like Deborah Campbell say eating out has become a luxury.
DEBORAH CAMPBELL, PAL JACK'S CUSTOMER: Oh yummy, that looks good!
BATE: She used to drive to Pal Jack's with her family twice a week. Now, she can only afford to come once or not at all. And that's not the only place where she's making cuts.
CAMPBELL: Cutting back on gas, cutting back on how we eat out, on how I shop especially and cutting on little like extracurricular things we like to do. We can't do that anymore.
BATE: Malhotra says when he's losing regulars, it's a sign the economy is in serious trouble. Another big indicator? He's had a surge in job applications, even though he isn't hiring.
MALHOTRA: I'm getting people that are accountants that want an extra job, chefs that work in hotels and stuff want to come in and have a little extra job.
BATE: Customers say it all boils down to one word: uncertainty. Ariane Wallace is having a baby girl in two weeks. She doesn't know what to expect for her and her daughter and that makes her nervous.
ARIANE WALLACE, PAL JACK'S CUSTOMER: It does actually a lot just because I don't know what it's going to be like for her coming up, so hopefully it won't be too bad, so I'm just trying to make sure that I'm in a place that I can make sure she has everything that she needs.
BATE: For his part, Malhotra is trying to remain an optimist.
MALHOTRA: History tells us that we're in a slump, we are going to get out. The timing we're not sure of, but we will get out of it and now we just have to survive until that time comes.
BATE: With a full-fledged recession all but certain, there are talks in Washington of a second stimulus package to give Main Street businesses like Pal Jack's a boost. But for that to work, small business owners say consumers need to get a substantial slice of the stimulus pie. Dana Bate, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Laurel, Maryland.
