Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

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Philosophy Explorer
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Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

No hints from me FDP.

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henry quirk
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Post by henry quirk »

My guess: staples (food, water, etc.), life-preserving, -furthering stuff.

Luxury (items, services) is for surplus times.
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FlashDangerpants
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by FlashDangerpants »

Debt collectors
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Necromancer
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Post by Necromancer »

henry quirk wrote: โ†‘Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:29 pm My guess: staples (food, water, etc.), life-preserving, -furthering stuff.

Luxury (items, services) is for surplus times.
:D
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Sir-Sister-of-Suck
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Sir-Sister-of-Suck »

You would have to expand on exactly what you mean by a 'poor economy'. I mean when the dollar is weak, people look to assets that hold value in a similar way, like precious metals and cryptocurrency. If you're talking about a recession, of course the dollar will go down leading up to it, but certain vice industries like tobacco and alcohol almost directly benefit. When times are rough, people look for cheap comfort they can afford.

Discount retailers can also go up for a similar reason. Walmart sales increased during the last recession because they changed a large part of their stock to reflect it. Dollar stores seem to be the most extreme example of this, as I've heard they can also apparently benefit.
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by gaffo »

Philosophy Explorer wrote: โ†‘Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:17 pm No hints from me FDP.

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essentials.

fuel (oil companies)

food (ag corps)

..........

the rest suffer.
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Post by gaffo »

henry quirk wrote: โ†‘Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:29 pm My guess: staples (food, water, etc.), life-preserving, -furthering stuff.

Luxury (items, services) is for surplus times.
yep
gaffo
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by gaffo »

FlashDangerpants wrote: โ†‘Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:00 pm Debt collectors
not when getting blood from a stone.
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FlashDangerpants
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by FlashDangerpants »

gaffo wrote: โ†‘Sun Jul 01, 2018 12:26 am
FlashDangerpants wrote: โ†‘Sat Jun 30, 2018 5:00 pm Debt collectors
not when getting blood from a stone.
You just don't know how to make a killing out of distressed debt in a recession.
All these guys do.
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

How about (broadly speaking) the repair business such as shoe repair or carpet cleaning?

Walmart?

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Skip
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Skip »

payday/short-term, high interest loans / usury
mortgage foreclosure / repossession
property flipping / real estate speculation
pawnbroker
gambling: casino/ lottery / bookie
gold/ silver/ jewellery buyer
consignment clothing/accessory retail
used car / boat / ATV sales
liquor / drug dealer
bankruptcy trustee
bank
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

Loan sharks.
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

Wanted to say more about the carpet-cleaning business.

Worked for two places that went out of business. Sears Cleaning Services just did steam cleaning. Macy's Home Cleaning did a combination of steam cleaning and shampooing and went out of business later than Sears, charging twice what Sears would charge.

Both went out of business around the time the economy was improving. Macys hung around longer because they offered more service to getting carpets and furniture cleaned. However in an improved economy, consumers opted to buy new carpets and furniture rather than clean their old carpets and furniture so it reached the point that both Sears and Macys had to go out of business.

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Skip
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Skip »

Philosophy Explorer wrote: โ†‘Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:30 pm However in an improved economy, consumers opted to buy new carpets and furniture rather than clean their old carpets and furniture so it reached the point that both Sears and Macys had to go out of business.

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Perhaps you're attributing a change to the wrong influence. How about the prevalence of carpet cleaning products and equipment rental ? (We've always done our own cleaning, good economy and bad) And how about the trend to wood, tile, vinyl and especially laminate flooring, so that hardly anyone has installed carpeting anymore? Area rugs can be sent or taken to professional cleaners once every few years.
Meanwhile, there still are carpet cleaning services, most them working for commercial office buildings and institutions. They are generally cleaning specialists, rather than adjuncts to a department store.
I suspect it's the department store aspect of those businesses that have become obsolete.
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Re: Which businesses do better in a poor economy?

Post by Philosophy Explorer »

Skip wrote: โ†‘Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:03 pm
Philosophy Explorer wrote: โ†‘Tue Jul 03, 2018 4:30 pm However in an improved economy, consumers opted to buy new carpets and furniture rather than clean their old carpets and furniture so it reached the point that both Sears and Macys had to go out of business.

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Perhaps you're attributing a change to the wrong influence. How about the prevalence of carpet cleaning products and equipment rental ? (We've always done our own cleaning, good economy and bad) And how about the trend to wood, tile, vinyl and especially laminate flooring, so that hardly anyone has installed carpeting anymore? Area rugs can be sent or taken to professional cleaners once every few years.
Meanwhile, there still are carpet cleaning services, most them working for commercial office buildings and institutions. They are generally cleaning specialists, rather than adjuncts to a department store.
I suspect it's the department store aspect of those businesses that have become obsolete.
Could be. I'm going back 15 to 20 years and I believe the economy was the main influence.

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