The local economy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to dry bar in Bethesda on Friday afternoon and all ten chairs were booked and people were waiting for their appointments.

I wonder if that's like the lipstick indicator. In prior recessions lipstick sales ticked up b/c it's a lower cost feel good.
So maybe ppl are skipping keratin but getting a blowout as needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nail place I’ve frequented for years was a ghost town at 6pm tonight. I expected it to be busy with the after work crowd or people preparing to go on spring break. Nail tech said business has been off for weeks now.

It made wonder how much people in our area are cutting back on these services…
Have you cut back on hair, nails, etc?

My nail person's business is down 85%, at minimum. She is super good with numbers. She has called all her clients and spoken with them. Most said they are worried about the economy. This is a person who runs her own business in a high income area, with an extremely loyal following.

My hair person is down about 60%.

I am in the 1%. I am not stupid with my money. Will not spend one dime I don't have to while Trump is in office.

These are economic areas that absolutely will be gone by the end of the year.

Trickle down Economics Republicans are too dumb to understand this.

But hey electing a dumb dictator who is all in on supporting Russia is the American Dream.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nail place I’ve frequented for years was a ghost town at 6pm tonight. I expected it to be busy with the after work crowd or people preparing to go on spring break. Nail tech said business has been off for weeks now.

It made wonder how much people in our area are cutting back on these services…
Have you cut back on hair, nails, etc?

My nail person's business is down 85%, at minimum. She is super good with numbers. She has called all her clients and spoken with them. Most said they are worried about the economy. This is a person who runs her own business in a high income area, with an extremely loyal following.

My hair person is down about 60%.

I am in the 1%. I am not stupid with my money. Will not spend one dime I don't have to while Trump is in office.

These are economic areas that absolutely will be gone by the end of the year.

Trickle down Economics Republicans are too dumb to understand this.

But hey electing a dumb dictator who is all in on supporting Russia is the American Dream.

Exactly. We are in the 1% as well and I am moving any spa/beauty treatments/shopping to overseas. I'm not spending a cent I don't have to in the US.

[Anonymous]

So much for Trump being good for the economy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH is a fed and my job is policy-related. We are cutting back and frankly I just don't feel like spending. I am depressed and just want to do less / leave the house less.

Same.

Same. No nails, no hair, no eating out. I'm basically hoarding every dollar. Maybe it is leftover Covid-era depression, maybe it's resentment of the fact that everything is owned by a few billionaires - I just don't have the heart to spend any money. I'm UMC and never thought I'd worry about money but we own a small company that is heavily dependent on government spending - a few tiers away but still will be impacted a lot - just as my kids are set to go to college.

[Anonymous]

My hairdresser said that her shop has been negatively impacted and is thinking about ways to give discounts to long-term clients as a way to keep business. When I came a few weeks back and shared that all of my company's ED contracts had been cancelled, it seemed like she had heard a version of that story many times over.

[Anonymous]

I was out shopping yesterday and the woman working the checkout at Ulta was trying to sell some of the weekly sale products to another customer, who said “no, we’re trying to cut back.” I was also picking up a prescription at Target (I know, I know, I really was just there for the prescription though) and the store seemed pretty empty for a peak Saturday afternoon and fairly well stocked. Checkouts were a mess though without enough cashiers. I truly do think people are spooked and just shopping less.