Stuff that “Ain’t there no more” depresses me.

Digby put this up yesterday. Priceless.

http://www.amazon.com/Ottoman-…..0688080936

Business is so bad that an increasing number of retailers are calling it quits — without waiting to see whether money can be made as the Christmas season gets underway.

The department-store chain Mervyns closed in October — at about the same time Linens ‘n Things Inc. and Shoe Pavilion Inc. launched going-out-of-business sales. This month, Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection just days after announcing it would close 155 underperforming electronics stores and seek lower rents at others.

In most economically slow years, large retailers can cover for a Christmas shortfall with loans from their longtime lenders. But the credit crunch is keeping bankers on the sidelines, and even big players are having trouble getting the financial help they need.

If Christmas doesn’t deliver the usual windfall for merchants, the pressure on landlords to rewrite lease agreements and reduce rents in 2009 could become intense, said Stan Ross, chairman of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. That could put some shopping center owners in jeopardy with their lenders, especially if they can’t find replacement tenants for those that leave.

“The worst thing for a retail center is to have a lot of dark stores,” said Ross, because it makes the center a depressing place to shop and can speed its demise. Fewer customers visit and more stores turn out the lights. “There is a domino effect,” he said.

http://www.latimes.com/busines…..5079.story

The Cascade effect is already happening its not waiting for the big three the GOP better get on the stick and start supporting Obama now is not the time for games.
Its time for an FDR Reverse Shock Doctrine.