Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992 TAG: 9201270176
SECTION: NEW RIVER VALLEY ECONOMY PAGE: 16 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
WHEN ECONOMY GOES, EVEN DOGS ECONOMIZE
Forget the Dow Jones Industrials.If you want the true economic picture in the New River Valley, ask your neighbors how long it's been since they dined on lobster and champagne.
Ask them how long it's been since Fido had a hot oil treatment.
Ask them what Junior got for Christmas.
And when all else fails, put on your best Sherlock Holmes disguise, sneak over to your neighbor's house after dark and rummage through his garbage.
If you find an empty bottle of Remy Martin cognac, you're in the wrong neighborhood.
At $96 a fifth, the Remy Martin is gathering dust on the shelves of state Alcoholic Beverage Control stores in the New River Valley.
"People are buying the cheaper products. This year they bought cheaper bourbons, gins, vodkas and brandies for Christmas," said T.R. Kimbleton, an assistant manager at the Radford ABC store where he has worked for 18 years.
"Our sales reflect that people are drinking less and drinking cheaper," he added. "We noticed that business people were cutting down on their gifts, too. The expensive stuff didn't move as well as it has in the past."
If the economy isn't driving people to drink, it may be driving them to dessert.
David Leinwand, owner of the The Farmhouse restaurant in Christiansburg, said his business has been good in recent months. Not only are folks feasting on prime rib, steaks and seafood, they're also leaving room for homemade grasshopper pie, chocolate-raspberry bash and midnight layer cake.
At $3.25 a sliver, that's saying something.
"We're very pleased with business right now," Leinwand said. "The first seven months of 1991, we definitely felt the pinch . . . but in the last five months, sales have been back to normal. People are still buying what they like."
Keith Roberts, owner of the Old Man of the Sea in Blacksburg, agreed. He said he ordered 80 pounds of lobster for holiday sales and sold out.
For those of you who missed the boat, the going price for lobster was $17.95 a pound.
Still, Roberts said he has noticed some fishy economic indicators at his fish store.
"People aren't buying jumbo shrimp anymore," he said. "They're buying the next size down."
"We didn't sell as many party trays this year, either," he noted. "I believe people are buying the food and putting their own labor into fixing it."
Warren Harris, manager of the Capri Twin Theatres in Blacksburg, has noticed a similar trend. Although he sold nearly 3,000 pounds of popcorn and 5,200 gallons of soda last year to munching movie-goers, he says many patrons are pinching pennies.
"People are trying to conserve by bringing their own refreshments to the theater," he said. "It's happening quite a bit."
Harris said Capri Twin Theatres reduced ticket prices more than a year ago to attract more customers. The movie house now charges $1.50 admission to all shows.
How is this possible?
"We wait for the second-run movies," Harris explained. "People are willing to wait because they don't want to pay $5.75 to see a first-run movie."
Most of the time, Harris said, the wait-and-see theory works. " `Terminator' drew a full crowd," he said. "But `Highlander II' drew only 11 people the whole night - and that was for two shows."
Maybe folks in the New River Valley are tightening their belts - but just how much of a squeeze are they feeling?
"You would think in a slumping economy lottery tickets and cigarettes would be the first thing to go," said Ron Holdren, owner of Ron's Stop 'N' Shop in Pembroke. "They're not."
Holdren said his customers have quit buying cigarettes by the carton, but they're still buying them by the pack - and paying more per pack.
Why?
"People are spreading their money out," he said. "They're definitely buying more generic cigarettes, too."
No longer are many Marlboro men (and women) willing to pay $1.72 for name-brand smokes, said Holdren.
"We're seeing an increase in the sub-generic sales at $1.29 a package. The regular generic brands, like Bristol and Montclaire, are selling at $1.53 a pack."
Holdren said folks in Giles County were snatching up the new "Wild Card" Virginia Lottery tickets last month as well.
"We ran out of scratch tickets before Christmas and had to go to Roanoke for more," he said. "We sold 3,000 tickets Christmas week."
And these aren't the only self-indulgent habits many New River Valley buyers are hanging on to.
Tammy Harrison, a beautician at Blacksburg's Elite Style Salon, said customers are still willing to pay for such personal luxuries as manicures, pedicures and eyebrow waxings.
Eyebrow waxings?
"Yes, waxing for hair removal - especially eyebrows - is popular," Harrison noted. "We do about 10 eyebrow waxings a week."
The cost, Harrison said, is only $8.50.
Harrison has noticed, however, that some customers are waiting longer to get haircuts and permanents. "Mostly," she said, "these are people who are out of work."
She said more people may be turning to do-it-yourself cosmetology, too, to cut corners.
"Sometimes they'll come to us to fix problems. Maybe they've put a home perm on their hair and have a bad case of the frizzies. That's when they come to us."
On the same wavelength, grooming for pets seems to have taken a downswing in the New River Valley. Pet owners are being more cautious about the money they spend on their furry friends.
"My customers are trying to economize like everyone else," said Toni Patriarca-Light, owner of the Shaggy Dog grooming and kennel service in Christiansburg. She said her boarding business was off during the holidays.
"People took shorter vacations away from their pets this year," she noted. "A lot of people are bathing their own dogs now. Some folks still bring their dogs for hot oil treatments, clipping, skin conditioning and toenail painting, though."
Patriarca-Light said the going rate for doggie haircuts averages $14. She provides hair bows, perfume and "lots of TLC" for free, she said.
These days, Patriarca-Light says she finds herself bartering with customers from time to time. Last summer, she bathed and clipped a Samoyed and a Peekapoo in exchange for fresh garden vegetables. More recently, she groomed an electrician's poodle in exchange for repairs to a heater in her shop.
Folks in the New River Valley may be trimming the fat at the supermarket, but Jim Mullins, co-manager of Harris Teeter in Christiansburg, said they're not scrimping too much.
"We've had a good year, thank goodness," Mullins said. "Sales are about normal."
However, Mullins said the supermarket customers are scouting for bargains. They don't seem to mind if the bacon they bring home is a little brown around the edges.
"We have no trouble getting rid of the day-old bread and the reduced meats," he said.
At the toy store, the buck stopped Christmas Eve.
"People are not buying toys, period!" said Craig Jones, manager of K&K Toys at the New River Valley Mall. "We had an excellent Christmas, but now sales are off."
Jones said the big sellers last month were Nintendo and Sega video game systems and remote-control cars. He noted that the expensive video games, such as Mermaid and Megaman II at $49.99 each, still were sitting on the shelf.
"People are buying the less expensive games like Bat Man and Dick Tracy for the systems," he said. "They sell for $19.99."
One thing people are buying, according to Doug Steger, is a gift that is growing in popularity: flowers.
Steger, owner of The Flower Shoppe in Pulaski, puts it this way: "Where else can you buy a gift that provides so much pleasure for so little money?"
The florist said his business has increased its sales every year since opening eight years ago. He said sales so far this year are up 4 percent.
"Birthdays and get-well wishes are on the rise in terms of flowers," Steger said. "And, your sympathy business is always there. Some florists live and die by it."
Another Pulaski business is not faring as well as The Flower Shoppe, however.
Bonded Collectors, an agency working mainly to collect unpaid medical bills in the area, is feeling the hard times.
"There are a lot of people not able to pay," said Ima Wallace. "Collections are way down."
Wallace has worked at the collection agency since 1950. It's not an easy job, she said.
"The unemployed are on a limited income. They have to take care of the essentials. We have people who want to pay but can't because they've been laid off," she said.
"It's a tough job. It breaks your heart to hear some of these people," Wallace said. "The people I talk to are more conservative with buying. They aren't buying frivolous things."
Wallace said she believes there is one thing people can do to improve the economic situation in the New River Valley: "I feel like we all need a more positive attitude."