Cafes next to fall?

People with designer dogs and flash clothes don't have to worry - yet.

But others are reaching for their basics brand instant coffee instead of their usual $4+ coffee fix.

Independent research house IbisWorld says coffee, small clothing stores and car dealerships face the biggest threat of going under as a deteriorating economy leads to more job losses.

Tyre manufacturing, car retailing, international airlines and real estate are among the jobsu most at risk..\

Big UK retailers go bust

The Independent reports two more big UK retailers have collapsed into administration, becoming the latest victims of the Christmas retail crisis and sparking fears over hundreds of jobs.

USC, the 58-store branded fashion chain backed by the business tycoon Sir Tom Hunter, appointed the accountancy firm PKF as administrator and Passion for Perfume, a 45-store fragrance chain, has also called in the administrators.

They follow the appointment of administrators by Whittard of Chelsea, the coffee and tea specialist, The Officers Club, the menswear chain, and Zavvi, the entertainment retailer.

Consumer behaviour changes dramatically

Sorry Sky City casino but the dangling of carrots like $20,000 doesn’t work anymore to get hard up people through the door.

They don't have the $20 to get a cab to the place!

Consumer behaviour is changing -and now with the recession

major changes are happening

Over the past year, shoppers have drastically changed their spending habits in ways not seen since the 1970s, switching to store brands and discounters like Wal-Mart. During the holiday shopping season, they cut back on their spending, took advantage of big discounts and bought practical gifts.

This AP writer notes One of the big worries for stores is what to do with the mounds of items they still have to sell. If 75 percent off before Dec. 25 didn’t make people splurge, will even bigger deals afterward do the trick? Another problem is that shoppers shunned gift cards this season. That means they are less likely to return to the stores after the holiday.

“The new consumer mantra for this coming year is: If I don’t need it, I won’t buy it,” said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America’s Research Group. “America has going from a consuming society to a planned-buying society. Everything is focused on saving more money.”

The retail industry could be looking at its biggest contraction in 35 years, according to Burt P. Flickinger, III, managing director of consulting firm Strategic Resource Group. He estimates that 160,000 stores will have closed in 2008 and predicts that an additional 200,000 will shutter next year. In March and April of 2009, Flickinger expects 2,000 to 3,000 malls to shutter.

A number of stores struggled just to make it to Christmas. Circuit City Stores filed for bankruptcy protection last month. It plans to keep operating, but KB Toys, which filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this month, has already begun to liquidate all of its stores and will shut down completely.

Finlay Fine Jewelry, which operates stores such as Bailey Banks & Biddle, warned a week ago that it may not have enough cash to operate through the end of its fiscal year on Jan. 31, and may have to “significantly curtail” its business.

In Christmases past, stores could rely on a surge before or after the holiday to help save the season. But this year, it was virtually over before it began as stores had to slash prices on holiday goods as soon as they hit the shelves.

How low can prices go?

A series of gloomy economic reports shows that consumers holding tight to their wallets with job losses expected to mount in the months ahead.

Meanwhile retailers seem unable to express how low they have to go to express their desire for consumers to spend. A women’s clothing chain is now talking of very low prices.

List of retail failing is growing

There’s very little joy left for retailers this season,” says C. Britt Beemer, founder of America's research group. “Wal-Mart continued to dominate shopping this year predicting a rash of financial problems for retailers in the wake of the dismal holiday season. A number of major names, such as Macy’s, are in trouble over the long run, and we will undoubtedly see more retail bankruptcies in the New Year.
NBR reports the list of smaller retailers being forced into receivership or liquidation is growing as consumers keep spending under tighter control.

Tie Rack was placed into liquidation by Corporate Finance and insolvency firm Staples Rodway is managing several recent receiverships such as high-end Auckland furniture stores Eon Design, which has this notice (above right) on its now-empty Britomart Place store.It’s also dealing with the receivership of Garlands Furnishing Specialists after 50 years in business and also managing The Fine Wine Delivery Company through voluntary administration, is trying to offload wine stocks from the recently closed Christchurch outlet.

Lease us please- any conditions

How desperate is this - short term, long term.. OK then hey any term. You name it.

Meanwhile the governor of the Bank of Spain on Sunday issued a bleak assessment of the economic crisis, warning that the world faced a “total” financial meltdown unseen since the Great Depression.”The lack of confidence is total,” Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez said in an interview:”The inter-bank (lending) market is not functioning and this is generating vicious cycles: consumers are not consuming, businessmen are not taking on workers, investors are not investing and the banks are not lending. “There is an almost total paralysis from which no-one is escaping,” he said, adding that any recovery — pencilled in by optimists for the end of 2009 and the start of 2010 — could be delayed if confidence is not restored.