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Noted . Notable . Noteworthy . LGBT News &. Views
Volume 23 . Number 12 October 18.2008 Printed on Recycled Paper FREE
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page, 7
q-notes.com
with the rest of U.S.
economy, LGBT businesses,
non-profits feeling
the pinch
by Matt Coiner . Q-Notes staff
I n the past few weeks, the nation has
looked to Wall Street with shock, confu
sion and anger as the stock market and
every other part of the U.S. economy seemed
to do nothing but slip away.
When the Dow Jones dropped 777 points
on Sept. 29, after a failed attempt by Congress
to pass a Wall Street bailout plan, folks on
Main Street took notice — in a big way. Even
after President George W, Bush signed a more
than $800 billion bailout plan, the Dow stum
bled again — more than 600 points. In early
October, for the first time since 2004, the Dow
plummeted below 10,000 points — reaching
an unheard of more than 5,000-point drop in
only one year. At press time, the markets were
still struggling from their dangerous Oct. 10
dip below 8,000 points.
Adding to the already mind-boggling
financial crisis, many people faced insur
mountable challenges finding gas in Charlotte
and Western North Carolina. For more than
two weeks, area gas stations remained dry and
miles-long lines formed at pumps the
moment new fuel deliveries arrived.
Some who remember the 1970s fuel
squeeze remarked that this time around, the
situation seemed more dire. “The gas crunch
On the issues
The candidates on
HIV/AIDS
page 12
then was bad,” one reader told me. “But at least
there was gas. Now there is no gas.”
With credit markets frozen, banks on the
brink of failure and the U.S. government
seizing and bailing out insurance compa
nies, consumers and business owners alike
are anxious and nervous about what the
future might bring. The “Animal House”
party on Wall Street has hit the average
American in an economic downturn many
are saying rivals — if not outright trumps
— the Great Depression.
In the mbc and swirl of an ever-volatile
market (one I readily admit will change dras
tically between the time I’m writing this and
the time you pick this issue up to read it), are
LGBT community members and business
owners who are desperately trying to make
the best of a situation that is as out of their
hands and uncontrollable as the weather.
Realtors facing uphill climb
Raleigh resident and realtor Michael
Sullivan of the Fonville Morisey Realty com
pany said he’s been facing a tight housing
market for at least 18 months. Although he
can’t explain it, his business has picked up
slightly in the past two to three months. But
nothing is guaranteed.
2008 Voter
Guide
Highlights on star
election races
page 5
“We’ve been struggling with this for close
to two years now,” Sullivan told Q-JVbfe5.“This
bailout is going to help, but it won’t be an
immediate fix.”
While hopeful — Sullivan says he’s “overly
optimistic about the end of the day” and not
worried about his retirement — he’s also
afraid that it will take too long for the market
to pick back up.
“I think it will take six to 12 months for
the market to rebound,” he said. “But 1 don’t
think the real estate market will get back to
what it was three to five years ago, probably in
my lifetime.”
Who’s at fault? Sullivan places the blame
right at the feet of banks and lenders. “If you
were breathing you could get a loan for a
house,” he said. “Lenders started offering
short-sighted, artificially low loan products to
get any John Doe in the houses. What no one
banked on was that there was a great deal of
speculation going on in the real estate mar
kets. Prices were artificially high and the bub
ble popped.”
Other businesses feel the pinch
What might have originally started as a
mortgage and housing market crisis has
now so engulfed the entire American and
global economies that most, if not all, busi
nesses are feeling the pressure. Small busi
ness owners like Frank Kalian, of the
Charlotte copy shop Sir Speedy, said cus
tomers are buckling down on their spend
ing. The result for his business is smaller,
less frequent orders.
“People are being more cautious about
ordering and their quantity and size,”
Kalian said.
But, like almost all the business folks I
spoke to. Kalian remains hopeful. “As we pull
out of this and get new leadership in
November, hopefully things will get better.”
He added, “I think we’ve been hit with so
much bad news lately from all corners. It
affects people psychologically and with the
economy people are just afraid — and right
fully so. We’ve gone through this before and it
will right itself.”
Brian David Coone of Charlotte’s Massage
Kneads, a young entrepreneur working to build
his budding massage business, said he’s been
hit hardest by folks tightening down on how
much they spend on relaxation and luxury.
“People are cutting out those luxury
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page 29