The recession calls are getting louder on Wall Street, but for many of the households and businesses who make up the world economy the downturn is already here.
Take Gina Palmer, who runs She Salon on Atlanta’s busy Northside Drive west of downtown. She’d ordinarily expect her business to be alive with the din of customers on a Friday morning. But on that day late last month, it was largely empty and quiet, save for a few employees. With summer break moving into full swing, her clientele is preoccupied with affording summer camps for their kids amid soaring food and gasoline costs.
"When people look at their budgets, the first thing they cut is self care,” Palmer said. "I’ve seen my clients go from having weekly appointments to biweekly, and my biweekly clients are now coming in every six weeks.”
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.