If there is anyone who isn’t concerned about the recent closings of many local restaurants in Marble Falls and elsewhere, they must not like to eat out as much as I do. The shutting down of Cafe 909, the Falls on the Bistro, Patton’s on Main and Cecil’s all seem to make the business forecast look bleak.
Yet not all is lost. With the holidays quickly approaching, maybe we should look at some of the good things taking place in our area and draw optimism from that.
For example, gas prices are down. Many months ago, there was a time our publications here at Victory Publishing Co. Ltd. seemed to cover endless stories about the fuel crunch and its effect on the local economy.
At one point, a disgusted reader told us enough was enough; he didn’t want to see anything else written about high gas prices.
As our editor Thomas Edwards likes to say, “We don’t make the news, we just cover it.”
It’s true, and I take comfort in knowing not all news can be pleasant, but our coverage needs to be thorough, good or bad.
Not to belabor the point, but I believe lower fuel prices are part of a much bigger picture not to be overlooked. For instance, during the last year I’ve been forced to challenge myself to cut back on things I might have otherwise purchased too quickly. I think twice about the choices I make; these days, somewhere may be too far to drive or the item I want might cost too much by the time I get there.
It’s always a good idea to save money, but I’ve realized I’m not able to spend freely the way I have in the past. Making purchases seems to take longer and require more thought and research.
In the long run, these lessons will hopefully stay with us and contribute to making us better consumers even after the recession is over.
I won’t mention any specific retailers, but it seems some have risen to the challenge and they carry a wider variety of merchandise.
It’s easy to see prices have risen across the board from groceries to clothes and for the service industries, but there is more of an effort to bring convenience to the customers, especially for those who can’t travel outside the area.
Another encouraging aspect resulting from a sluggish economy is competition. I think competition is a wonderful driving force for humans, since monopolies and oligopolies typically don’t work to the consumer’s advantage. Competition may push someone both personally and professionally to develop new ideas, products and services.
There is no telling how long our economy will stumble before it prospers, but it will prosper again one day. That could mean the door is wide open for wise consumers and investors. And for small businesses, this may be just the right time to capitalize on some much-needed advertising.
It’s understandable first instincts in a volatile economy are to cut back spending and rethink financial strategies. Professionally, however, if you own or operate a business of any size, you should consider today’s market as a chance to capitalize on advertising.
What we’re experiencing now isn’t anywhere close to what happened during the Great Depression, but there are a few lessons we should take to heart by remembering what happened to some businesses during that time.
According to Jon Blomquist, the public relations director for Top Shelf Logos, many of America’s larger, more easily recognized companies of the time started to cut their advertising budgets during the Depression while lesser-known companies such as Proctor & Gamble and Chevrolet expanded theirs. Years later, with World War II behind the nation and the economy stabilizing, those two companies emerged more profitable and more widely recognized than ever before.
It wouldn’t be fair to overlook online advertising, either.
According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers, spending money for online advertising is up 15.2 percent in the United States.
Regardless of our economic outlook, maybe we have learned some lessons as far as becoming cautious consumers and business owners of the future.
Young is the chief correspondent for the Business Journal.
