$4 shoeshines going way of Starbucks stops
Filed under: Bargains, Budgets, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recession
Just as a trip to Starbucks has been removed from the routines of many people, so has a stop at a shoeshine shop, the New York Times reported on Friday.
In another sign that people are watching what they spend as the economy continues to slide, the five shoeshine stands in Grand Terminal Station in New York City report a drop from some 700 customers a day to 600.
"They tell me, 'maybe tomorrow,' " said Eddie Ardaix, 49, who owns all five stands. "The ones who said yes every day, now it's one day yes, one day no."
When the Wall Street crowd starts getting nervous about a $4 shoeshine, something has to be wrong. I've only had my shoes shined a few times, but it is relaxing and better than having to do it yourself.
"Getting your shoes shined -- it's a little cathartic," Randall Devere, an investment banker, told the Times. Devere said he comes to get his shoes shined a little less often than he once did, just as he now keeps an eye on the price of sandwiches he buys for lunch. "I think it's in the back of a lot of people's minds," he said.
But the shoeshine stands' owner, Ardaix, reported an upside to the drop in business: More people are coming in for shoe repairs and trying to salvage a pair of shoes that might have otherwise simply been replaced. Repair business is up 20 to 25%, Ardaix said.
Aaron Crowe is an unemployed journalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read about his job hunt at www.talesofanunemployeddad.blogspot.com
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-25-2008 @ 8:11AM
Adrien said...
That's incredible, I would have thought that the arrogance and pride of the young wallstreeters would have them spending just as much if not more. But then again it's only 100 less people a day.
But take a second to look at those number 600 customers times $4 is $2,400 a day!! ... that's not bad money .. maybe I need to get into that, that's more than I make in a month :0( haha. That's 48k a wow. I mean I know they don't get to keep it all but .. wow!!
Adrien
http://www.TheNakedHippie.com
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11-25-2008 @ 9:54AM
Jon said...
Did you know?
Starbucks 'wastes 23 million liters of water each day'
http://www.curiousread.com/2008/10/starbucks-wastes-23-million-litres-of.html
Starbucks is done.
11-25-2008 @ 8:41AM
David427 said...
Geez, here I was thinking this was going to be about affordable quality health care.
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11-25-2008 @ 9:11AM
Jack said...
What about waxing the beaver. That's expensive. I prefer the au natural anyway it's more of a turn on.
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11-25-2008 @ 2:53PM
Todd said...
I think people in general are suddenly realizing how much money they have been wasting on so called little things, such as shoe shines and coffee to go. Whereas these might have seemed more as occassional slurges, to some they become everyday living expenses. Who needs a shoe shine everyday?
People are so lazy they can't make a pot of coffee at home and take a cup with them during their commute. For what you pay at Starbucks for one cup of coffee, you buy a pound of ground coffee at the grocery. It is this sort wastefulness that is the root of our economic woes, and has been going on in our country for years. Now it is even hitting the pockets of the New York elite stockbrokers. Cry me a river.
Buy a can of shoe polish for under $4.00 and do it yourself.
Also $2400 in NYC is not that much as the cost of living there is so high.
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11-25-2008 @ 10:39AM
holly said...
I'm not sure how getting your shoes shined could be considered cathartic. I don't think it would do that much for me.
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11-25-2008 @ 1:20PM
vanmanlocal110 said...
$4.00 for a shoe shine? Here in the midwest, we only got tennis shoes from Wal-Mart that we only wear in the winter months.
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11-25-2008 @ 1:40PM
bruce said...
get a grip.... ever occur to anyone that you don't polish flip-flops? we have become so casual, that we dress like slobs for all occasions. look in the airport. our standards are so low, i wonder if they could go any lower. no pride
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11-25-2008 @ 2:15PM
Seymour said...
I agree with bruce... this casual BS is just a part of the dumbing down of America. Getting your shoes shined means that you still wear real shoes, not flip flops or tennis shoes all the time. Some people never learned self-respect, or the special way it feels to dress up once in a while. I wear old T-shirts to wash the car, not to go out to a restaurant, on an airplane, or to a wedding. Try dressing up, just once, and don't slouch. And take that stupid backwards cap off your head!
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11-25-2008 @ 11:46PM
brad said...
I don't think $4 dollars for a shoe shine is that much, and I agree with people about dressing up. It shows you have pride in yourself, and as someone commented the airport is just one example of overly casual dressing. Flip flops should be for the beach!
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