Exactly. When I was a kid, there were many factories around town. I grew up in Buffalo NY. We had Bethlehem Steel, Sylvania, many auto plants, the Courier Express, Trico Windshield Wipers,Bell Aeronautics, Harrison Radiator, so many factories where the men worked. All closed in the 1970's. My family was hard hit by unemployment. My Dad got severly depressed. He found a menial job and worked until he was 62,then he retired. He died in 1998.

Why did they close patches, do you know? Are they moving the company or did they go out of business. What ever the reason, I'm so sorry for those laid off.

I am tired of all the industry being sent to China and other countries. I am tired of the crappy stuff we get back from them. I am especially mad that food from China is in our supermarkets.

We had a major lumber manufacturer lay off a few hundred workers just before Christmas due to a slacking demand in construction materials. This is an international company.

Except for the auto industry,things seem to be running on course here in Canada.
With our economies so closely related,I wonder how long it will be before we start feeling the effects here in the great white north.
I'm hoping that the real estate market at least stays stable until we sell our house next summer.

How in the world could we have any slack in construction materials. With all of the floods, hurricanes, tornados and other natural disasters. Plus, just the building going on everywhere you look. That makes no sense, does it.

I'm with you Marilyn about manufacturing jobs going overseas. And us getting EVERYTHING from China to India. Greed just runs this old world and how sad is that. We're certainly paying for these bad choices.

There just not selling trailers now with the way everything is going on. There just completely closing. My SIL and DD both work at trailer factories but different ones and so far there's are hanging on but don't know for how long. Our friend has worked at one of the closing ones for 18 yrs. and he's only 58 but so worried about finding another job. 58 is not old till you have to find a job then they look at you like your an idiot. There are so many houses setting empty because of foreclosures in this area and i'm guessing with all the job lost, there's going to be a lot more.

We are in the process of deciding if we are closing our business. We have a motorcycle repair shop. We've used our savings and mortgaged our home (haven't made a payment since August). There are 14,000 construction workers in the next county out of work. There are no jobs here. I've looked. Palm Beach County had 960 foreclosures last year.

Marion~Soon to be homeless and out of work.

Here in Ontario, things are not running on course in the Niagara area. Our fruit canning factory is one of the last industries we have and it is about to close it's doors. That means that all your canned peaches and pears will likely come from a foreign country now.

So much comes from China these days.....even fish that is caught by Canadians is now packaged in China by a well known brand name.

It's hard to find products that are actually made here. The labelling on packaging is really misleading....as long as a small portion of the product is made in Canada, it can have a Canadian label, when in actual fact, very little of it is Canadian.

I agree. We've had two large factories close here in town and our little place will certainly feel the brunt of that many people being out of a job. (Town of 9,000)

I won't make it political by naming presidents and other politicans who are to blame but will say it is also our own fault. I've been begging on this forum for three years to leave Walmart alone, as well as warning about the dangers of companies like Walmart (since Walmart is not the only one but the main one). Just like before, I will again receive remarks to this statement that either diminish or dismiss its importance. No one cares or can understand until they are affected. Michigan is in dire straits right now and that began about 5 years ago. Yes, Michigan depends on the auto industry, but you have to understand Michigan is the beginning, the barometer for what is to be all over the country. But it's okay to complain about what is on store shelves while placing those items on the conveyer belts.

Patches, it was very observant of you to pay attention to your surroundings. Wonder how many others bother to do that? No many, I assure you, because "I and hubby are okay" with no idea of how long that will last and no consideration for those already affected. Business closings for whatever reason are ominous, and it doesn't matter if they are moving. If they move, it's for a good reason, usually in search of lower operating costs. It still puts people out of work and their suppliers out of business, and that dramatically affects the tax base in that state.

Issuance of building permits is another clear way to judge a state's economy. When those begin to decline, you know construction is down, and the state is in trouble or very soon to be at the very least. Disaster is absolutely no way to judge. Ninety percent of those who suffer disaster do not have insurance to cover water disasters such as floods and hurricanes because the cost in those areas are astronomical, and therefore, not affordable. But then, that really proves my point of the listless and unsympathetic community when all we have to do is open our eyes and see these areas are not being rebuilt by the homeowners, if they are being rebuilt at all. They lose everything they ever had and worked for, depending mainly on government agencies like FEMA and private charitable agencies like Habitat For Humanity and others to provide new housing. They are slow, few, and far between.

Incidentally, I mentioned FEMA, but they are not a construction business. They are in the assistance business. They're purpose is to prevent and repair, but FEMA will just as well condemn a house citing irreparable damage. They will provide alternative housing on a temporary basis, but they don't build houses for disaster victims.

I'm not going to get into a Walmart thing, but beings you said this, it was just on tv this morning that most of the checks that's being sent out to help the economy will be spent at Walmart. I'm not saying this i had just heard it on tv.

We have had several factories close and go elsewhere in this area, mostly to Mexico I think. Had Brown shoe company, Lee company, Rawlings sporting goods and Angelica uniform company.

One company took over the old Brown Shoe plant and my friend's husband has worked there for several years, I think they make some sort of game equipment. Anyway, he told her the other day there was some guys from China there talking to the bigwigs so there goes another one.

What kind of "trailers" are you talking about patches? Mobile homes or some other kind of trailer? We have a Mobile home factory that just reopened after a fire over a year ago and it is doing a booming business for a town of a little over 25,000 people.There are foreclosures here also but I believe a large percentage of foreclosures are due to people buying homes they couldn't afford in the first place.There are also a lot of expensive new homes being built and sold in this area.I also heard that about Wal-mart but it does stand to reason that people will spend that extra money where they can buy more things for less money,and Wal-Mart is that place.That's just a fact.WAl-Mart is all we have in this town so I have no other choice unless I want to drive 50 miles to shop.
Summer-I don't understand the building material slump either with all the building that is going on and as you mentioned,the hurricane damage.I do know building materials have gone up in price the last couple of years but I just figured that was due to more demand,more money to be made.

travel trailers, motor homes. With gas the way it is i can understand. Like Michigan the automobile business is what keeps them going and here it's the trailers/rv's. It's gone down before but never like this. Part of the foreclosures are do to buying what they can't afford and didn't help that it was so relax on getting qualified and appraisers would say house was worth more then it actually was. Now it's so hard to sell a house and they have gone down so far in value in our area. The new homes in our area was going well too for awhile, it was actually easier to get a loan on a new house then one already built. Next town over is a big rv industry and that's also where the tornado went through a couple of months ago destroying lots of homes and businesses. FEMA wouldn't help this town, saying 3or4 hundred damaged places didn't warrant there help. Now these people are getting a double whammy with the rv places closing.

Do you know which trailer manufacturers closed.

Linda

newmar,monaco coach did big layoff and said, more to follow and travel supreme ( which is where our friend worked) Have two in family working in that business.

. . . "but it does stand to reason that people will spend that extra money where they can buy more things for less money,and Wal-Mart is that place.That's just a fact."

That is not true and only seems so in the short run. Cheap means exactly that - cheap. So you will pay less for a product today that is not as well made and won't last as long as a product costing a little more. You pay lots more more often than you ever saved in the first place. Moreover, Walmart's Chinese pricing theme drives competitors to charge more in order to stay in business. But too many people think the same as you, so those competitors are not able to maintain market share. Thus, business closings all around. One closes and it's obvious x number of people are out of a job but generally don't think about that business' suppliers and their employees, too. It is a chain reaction that loops within an awful vicious circle, but you wonder about a slump in the sale of building materials? I could go on but won't bother. I already predicted responses like that.

"There are foreclosures here also but I believe a large percentage of foreclosures are due to people buying homes they couldn't afford in the first place."

And you base that on what? Conjecture? What you "believe" without any information to base it on? Have you spoken with a large percentage of these people? Checked the adjustable-rate mortgages on a steady basis? Checked the foreclosure-unemployment ratios? Checked insurance increases? Anything? Sorry, but you have no idea the reason for a large percentage of forclosures.

WAl-Mart is all we have in this town so I have no other choice unless I want to drive 50 miles to shop.

Walmart wasn't always there.

Know what bestlawn......I don't think my comments deserved the obvious volatility that you threw back at me! I am just stating what I see in my area.Yes,I know all the stuff you stated about Wal-Mart.You might bear in mind though that the people receiving those rebates are in low income brackets and won't be looking at economical versus "cheap"! They will spend where they can get the most "stuff" for the money and that will be Wallyworld! If it falls apart they will just take it back and get another one!LOL I totally agree with what you say but not everyone thinks like you do.LOL
"Sorry, but you have no idea the reason for a large percentage of forclosures." Do You?
I do know a lot of people who are in foreclosure that have done exactly what I said,lived beyond their means. And how do you know what I know? You are making an assumption that I'm a dumb little dimwit from some hick town.LOL
"Walmart wasn't always there."
No,I think we had TG&Y before Wal-Mart!

it isn't just wal-mart, bestlawn...have you check the shelves in target, kmart, toy's r us? check high end stores. fine china that used to be made here and england are now farmed out to china...check appliances..my brand new toaster? (costco, cuisine-art) made in china...we didn't even realize till i was checking the paper work (and had used it)

and how can you expect anyone to drive 50 miles at $3+ a gallon on a limited budget? we drove thru the smoky mountains and have a pix of a walmart in the middle of nowhere..the tiny-town didn't have clothing stores unless you counted a "indian" trading center with tees from...china...

oh i hear you, understand the dire consequences, of super stores coming in and closing mom and pop store or small business...but! you and i are lucky for living in/near a major city and having places to shop...

Yeah, Susan. I was in Kmart last week and got my heart broken. Couldn't find my brand names I was looking for. That's what I'm saying about Walmart forcing competition. No one can compete with their pricing scale unless they also are selling from China. Next thing we know, there won't be a Kmart. Either they'll go out of business or Walmart will buy them.

But, I wasn't saying anyone should drive such long distances. I'm saying there is someplace else to shop (that Walmart hasn't driven out), even if that means paying a little more. It's a far better choice than no options at all when that chain reaction links you, too. No job and even higher living costs doesn't mean spending an extra dollar. It means not having a dollar to spend.

Yes, Lillie, I named three of them, and there are more. I wasn't trying to start an argument on Patches topic and certainly was not implying you are a dimwit. I don't think anything of the sort. I do feel the comment was narrow and so easy to arrive at because you don't have to be concerned then. It excludes you from any responsibility. I say "you" meaning in general because most people think the same way. I'm not just talking about those people with vouchers. That is way too few to bother mentioning. I'm talking about Walmart shoppers all over the country helping them build 50 new stores every week (way more actually). But please by all means, don't worry about that affecting other commerce or your job. I hope you are one of the extremely few Walmart does not affect, and I mean that.

"But please by all means, don't worry about that affecting other commerce or your job."
Did I say I didn't worry about it? Don't think I did! Just trying to explain how it is here and that I have no other choice but Wal-Mart.

Walmart can buy in such great bulk from other companys such as Johnson & Johnson and General Mills. These companies in turn give walmart greater discounts verses the mom and pop stores. Is it Walmarts fault that they are given these discounts which in turn they pass on to the consumer?

I don't think you can blame anyone in particular (the consumer, the factories, the government, Wal-Mart). Everyone shares a bit of the blame. I'm not an economist so I can't say exactly what happened but something has gone really wrong and we've painted ourselves into a corner. It's too late to 'buy American' since nothing is made in America anymore. I can't shop the mom and pop stores because they're already gone and if they were still here they would be selling foreign made goods anyway.

I hear the experts arguing about whether it's really that bad or not but I'm not hearing what we need to do to fix things. There may not be a quick fix but surely we can do something. I just wish someone (a highly qualified expert - not the person next to me in line at the supermarket, KWIM?) would tell me what it is we need to do.