"All We Can Do is Hope." (Breaking News Assignment)

How retail stores around VCU are affected by the recession.

By Santia Nance

There is no surprise that the bad economy has been affecting retail stores around VCU and the students that buy things from them.

Since December 2007, the United States has been in a recession and many retail establishments have been hit hard. Some have been closing stores, and others have just been going out of business completely.

As for the Monroe Park Campus, a lot of the stores around campus are still here, but that doesn’t mean they’re not suffering.

“Students don’t have money,” said Mohammed Mohammed, manager of Alawada Discounters, a store at 1313 W Broad St that sells bath and home décor, designer clothing, and snacks.

“People come in, but the issue is them buying cheaper stuff,” he said.

Students agree. Kim Jamilla explained that it was hard for her and her roommates to buy things unless it is a true necessity.

“I have to save up just to buy stuff that I only truly need,” she said. “And since a lot of students, like myself, don’t have jobs, it makes us very limited to what we can spend,” she said.

Michael P’Pool, the operations Manager of the Virginia Book Company, also thinks that people are reducing the luxury.

“Whether it’s waiting to get that book when they absolutely need it, or just not getting a VCU sweatshirt, we can tell that people are more conscious of their spending,” he said with a concerned look on his face.

Not every business around is looking at the recession in a bad way. Rumors, a retail store that sells women’s clothes recently had a big change because of the economy.

“We changed it all!” Casey Longyear, one of the owners of the store, said enthusiastically. “Now everything we sell in the store is pre-selected thrift!” she said with a smile on her face.

According to Longyear, Rumors is a shop that previously sold new name brand designer clothes, but her and her business partner, Marshae Wyche, realized that they weren’t getting many sales because their clothes were priced too high. Therefore, on Jan. 29, 2009, they switched over to a buy-sell-trade store.

Longyear explained that business has been going really well since they changed the store, and thinks that it blends well with the economy.

“A lot of people aren’t used to thrift shopping, but I think with this economy, it’s going to get more widely accepted,” she said.
Overall, stores are doing their best to do as well as they can and grow with the economy and so are the students.

“All we can do is hope,” said Mohammed. “Just hope that it gets better,” he said.

Ridje Chery, a student, thinks that students have to be more innovative with their spending by buying cheaper things.

“If that means going to Dollar Tree to buy socks and food, then that’s what I’ll do!” she said as she showed her socks.