Word: carlies
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...consumers cut back on big-ticket purchases this year, many fix-it folks are busier than ever. Whyspend money on new shoes, suits or SUVs when it's so much cheaper to repair the ones you already have? Around the country, cobblers, tailors, car mechanics and bike, vacuum, watch and television repairers are reporting strong revenues during the recession. Jim McFarland, a third-generation shoe repairman, who owns McFarland's Shoe Repair in Lakeland, has fought many anxiety bouts in his 23 years running the shop. "I've spent nights pacing my floor at 2, 3 in the morning, wondering...
...repair trade is delivering positive numbers even to the wrecked automobile industry. Since consumers can't afford a new car right now, they are holding on to their old ones longer. During December, for example, the average trade-in time for cars was 6.3 years, compared with 5.7 years in 2007. These rides often need repairs to stay alive. "Overall, our members are saying they are seeing a revenue increase," says Angie Wilson, vice president of marketing and communications for the Automotive Service Association, which represents 8,000 independent car-repair shops in the U.S. According to an association survey...
...Further, even though car dealerships are like ghost towns these days, on-site-service sales rose 2% during the past four months. Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association, is projecting growth "significantly above 3%" this year. "It's welcome news," Taylor says of the repair rise. "It's important that when consumer expenditures are dead in the water, this sector of the economy is growing...
...Congress. The UAW and creditors have not given enough in terms of concessions so far to make the government comfortable. If the GM plan is approved, 47,000 people lose jobs. If the plan is not, the number could be much larger. A bankruptcy of America's largest car company could not only lead to huge increases in the number of people out of work; it could leave a gaping hole in the confidence people have in the government to solve economic problems. (See pictures of Detroit...
...giving homeowners the choice of evacuating or staying to fight the fire. "I know the sort of people my parents were," says Robbins. "If mum had come out and told dad that they had a call from the CFA that there was a firestorm and get in the car and go, he would have gone," she says. "There should have been a graded warning system, air raid sirens and a mandatory evacuation system...