Main streets eye chaos on Wall St.; businesses cautious, but optimistic
Tom Ashenbrener’s family business in Twin Falls has seen its share of ups and downs. When his father, Rudy, purchased Price Hardware at 147 Main Avenue West in 1946 it had already been a downtown staple for 42 years, survived the Great Depression and seen two owners, a name change and a move.
The business, founded by Roy Eager at a different location in 1904 and purchased by Coe Price in 1935, is the oldest continuously operating retail store in Twin Falls, and today is located in its oldest commercial building.
Now, after a transition from hardware to cookware, Ashenbrener and his wife, Megan, operate Rudy’s – A Cook’s Paradise. He said today’s economy is like nothing he’s seen before.
“My take on this is that it’s the biggest unknown, economically, we’ve had maybe in my lifetime. I don’t know that anyone quite knows what to expect this time,” he said. “It’s a little scarier than normal.”
As the turmoil on Wall Street continues to impact markets around the world, Ashenbrener’s feeling of caution – and not a little anxiety – is shared on “Main Streets” (both literal and figurative) around the state. But so far it seems the other shoe has yet to drop.
“This is more of a shakeup than we’ve seen in the past,” said Debbie Lowiza, owner of Team Idaho Real Estate in Moscow since 1987. She added, though, that most of the business owners she’s talked to are suffering more from a lack of consumer confidence than any direct consequences of the financial crisis.
“Even though we physically don’t really have a big impact here, people are hearing the doom and gloom in the news and it’s having an effect,” she said. “The negative media has definitely had a negative impact on business. People are tucking in and getting the ‘wait-and-see’ attitude.”
That means as businesses begin to feel the credit crunch they’ll have to contend with uncertain consumers holding tight to their pocketbooks. Boise-based economist Don Reading said that will only deepen liquidity problems.
“The economists call it the Wealth Effect; that is, if people feel wealthy they tend to spend like they’re wealthy,” he said. “It’s going to (cause problems) unless there’s some strong evidence that this thing’s going to settle down and the world starts believing in the bailout package.”
