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[Thomas W. Bethel]

The Ford Motor Company just closed the Lorain Assembly plant(about 11 miles from here) and laid off 3000 workers, the new Kmart that was just built in a new shopping center near here closed down for "lack of business" shortly after it opened.  If you go to any of the industrial parks in any of the towns around here one out of every three buildings is closed or for sale. Two of the biggest hi end retailers have just closed their stores at the local mall for "lack of business" BUT Wal-Mart is building the third largest store in the world less than three miles from my studio meanwhile other stores and buildings are empty and waiting for someone to move in.

The only thing that seems to be prospering around here is the drug stores (almost one on every corner), the Cleveland Clinic and area hospitals which seem to be buying up all the available piece of land they can and Wal-Mart which at their present rate of growth will have a store in every community near here within the next three years.

Our business is still going well but I am starting to wonder if this is a state wide or national trend or if it is only here in Northern Ohio. Anybody have a barometer on what is really going on in the business world today and how it will effect us as mastering engineers?

I know right now that even my car repair shop is having problems and the manager, who is a good friend, cannot seem to figure out where all the people have gone ro if they are just hording their money. He also expressed the idea that maybe people are waiting for their tax refunds before getting their cars repaired???? Don't know?

Mastering has always been a luxury item with most people and they seem to find other places to spend their money but I am wondering if the whole US of A is just grinding down to a stop or if I just live in a really strange place.

Thanks for any and all input.

[jdg]

i own a wholesale bakery with my wife here in seattle.
thats my main thing.. mastering is what i do on the side tho.

i can tell you, after running this bakery for a few years, and having 3 employees... having a small business is very very hard (as most of us probably know)
resturants and local food spots are coming and going faster then the speed of light

i wouldn't put it up to a "bad business climate" though, just to fact, that it is hard to make it, period.

[Jerry Tubb]

Thomas W. Bethel wrote on Tue, 07 March 2006 09:21

The only thing that seems to be prospering around here is the drug stores (almost one on every corner), the Cleveland Clinic and area hospitals which seem to be buying up all the available property they can and Wal-Mart which at their present rate of growth will have a store in every community near here within the next three years.

The big box stores are really prospering around here, except for Kmart, who I think is just "snakebit" at this point. An interesting competition seems to be happening between WalMart and Target stores about a mile from here. Oddly enough there's a Guitar Center next door to the Target.

Shopping at a big box store is certainly a double edged sword.
Good selection and good prices, lots of low paying jobs, all while, the local mom & pop stores are struggling.

Kinda like buying your music gear from one of the big mail order places instead of the corner music store... a bit of a paradox, life is filled with 'em.

A good buddy of mine refuses to spend any of his money at any brand name corporate store... would rather do business with the small retailer even if there are compromises involved... and I admire that... just don't have time for it myself.

Ebb & Flow... retailers come and go, small (and big) studios as well.

The medical field will continue to grow exponentially as the "baby boom" generation reaches retirement age.

I think some people are affected by all the hyped negativity in the news, when fear hits critical mass, people will cling to their money, expecting a rainy day. I tend to ignore the news myself, it's all over-sensationalized hype, to sell advertising.

Maybe offering online mastering is the new global mastering approach to embrace, to ensure that business will flow regardless of local economic trends.

We've been lucky, Austin is such a music town, that we stay perpetually booked, knock on wood. But near the top of my list of 101 Things to do Now, is adding an FTP server to better open the flow of Chi for online mastering.

Peace