Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The ongoing economic roller coaster that has affected nearly every aspect of financial activity, from the housing market to the stock market, may not yet be bearing down on Massachusetts Street retailers.
Lawrence’s downtown district, a mixture of bars, eateries, clothing boutiques and other magnets for disposable income, generally enjoys a steady revenue stream throughout the school year, powered in part by KU students.
Although many students survive on the marginal income supplied by part-time jobs at or near minimum wage, others’ wallets are fortified by student loans or financial support from parents.
Bianca Fernandez, Lawrence sophomore, sort through a clothing rack at Creation Station, one of many clothing boutiques in Lawrence's downtown shopping and bar district on Mass Street. Despite the negative effects of the downturn in the U.S. economy, many retailers in the area are kept afloat by KU students' patronage.
Looking through a rack of long-sleeve T-shirts at Creation Station, a downtown boutique, Bianca Fernandez, Lawrence sophomore, said the economic problems hadn’t really changed her shopping habits, which she described as relatively frugal to begin with.
“I still live with my parents because the dorms are so expensive,” Fernandez said. “The only things I really have to spend money on are groceries and gas, but I also look for things that are cheap. That really helps.”
Morgan Mattison, owner of Eccentricity, a clothing boutique near the intersection of Seventh and Massachusetts streets, said that week-to-week sales had been too erratic to show a larger trend for this financial quarter.
“This week has been really slow, but the week before that was super busy,” Mattison said. “It hasn’t been as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
Mattison and other retailers estimated that students represented about 30 percent of their clientele.
A bonus of the college sales demographic is that students are routinely joined by their families on weekends and for special events such as homecoming week, when merchants see dramatic increases in retail traffic.
Alia Sachedina, owner of African Adorned, a downtown boutique that primarily specializes in jewelry, recently returned from a seven-week trip outside the United States.
She said the instability of the stock market while she was away didn’t do much to bolster her confidence in the future of retail, but she said she hoped the economic crunch wouldn’t affect business too much.
“I was expecting the worst upon my return, but I came to find that September was still a good month, a strong month for me,” said Sachedina, who took over ownership of the boutique two years ago when her mother, the store’s original proprietor, retired after 21 years.
She said October had been a good month so far for African Adorned.
“I’m just remaining hopeful that we’ll have a strong Christmas season,” Sachedina said. “I know everywhere, businesses are having difficulty. Even overseas, there was a lot of discussion of economics, of people scaling back their consumption of luxury items.”
Some downtown businesses have managed to insulate themselves from economic downturns through niche marketing and specialized inventory.
Joel Pfannenstiel, owner of Astrokitty Comics & More, cited a combination of a dedicated fan base and the serialized nature of comic book releases as the foundation for his business’ survival.
“I haven’t looked at our numbers,” Pfannenstiel said. “I look at our bank account and whether we’re up or down compared with last year. It just varies month to month.”
Matt Schmitt, an employee with Creation Station for the past two years, said he thought that the shoppers attracted to his boutique weren’t particularly bothered by economic externalities.
“I don’t think the clientele here is really affected,” said Schmitt, who also said the majority of consumers in his shop were probably between the ages of 17 and 23.
“The stock market may have crashed, but it doesn’t really matter to the people who shop here.”
— — Edited by Lauren Keith
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