No need to spare a dime: local business is fine

While economists from Washington to Wharton have complained recently that the nation's current financial downturn is the worst in years, several merchants in University City say they are already out of the woods. While some local merchants, including The High Rise Bar and The Athletic Department, have gone out of business recently, many University community vendors said they have been spared the current recession's negative effects. "Sneakers have become a necessity," Dandridge said. "If anything, the sales of higher priced shoes have shown a slight decrease." However, Dandridge did note that many consumers now "look for things on sale." Houston Hall's Muffins and More has also escaped the effects of the dreaded downturn, according to owner Don McKee, who said he has seen "no effect, at least not so far." "I don't know how [the recession] will effect the beginning of the semester," he said. "I don't expect the effects to be drastic." Many local merchants said the recession's true impact on vendors in the area can only be detected in the sale of luxury items, which are often the first things to be passed up when money gets tight. But Tony Hall, owner of Houston Hall's Discovery Discs, said his store has also sidestepped the slow down, and that, even in the worst of times, students still seem to crave the latest tunes. But consumers are also becoming more cost conscious, Hall added, and many are now selecting from the store's used disc selection rather than splurging on brand-new albums. It would seem that consumers cannot pass up the sharpest duds either, if the Shops at Penn's Attivo store is any indication. According to Assistant Manager Michelle Hamilton, Attivo is feeling no effects from the country's economic woes. "Despite some slow days with Penn and Drexel out, we are plussing last year's figures," she said, adding that the store "always has sales." Overall, area merchants said they are skeptical that the bottoming out of the economy will affect their bottom lines. "I don't believe there is a recession myself, and even if & there is, Penn students and their families don't seem to be affected," Hall said.

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