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Old 06-07-2010, 11:22 AM
 
4 posts, read 12,551 times
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I went to visit up north and when I got there on Memorial day Saturday it was dead. I walked down town Petoskey and could shoot a cannon down Mitchell st. and not hit a person. The park behind Flatiron deli had one girl sitting under a tree reading other than that it was empty. Mac. City was as dead. Walking through the crossings there were maybe 8 people total. Many shops like PUMCO have abandoned the large sales building and down sized to a very small shop next door that was the old brewery cheese shop building on spring lake, and the old building that must be twenty thousand feet is for sale or rent. This is a common story I saw from Mac. city to TC. As slow as things were several people said it was actually better than last year. Yikes.

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Old 06-07-2010, 11:58 AM
 
Location: Motown
323 posts, read 1,126,865 times
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That's definitely a shocker.
But, in all fairness, it's the same in a lot of tourist areas. I lived and worked in Aspen, Colorado last year and that is a magnet for WEALTHY tourists, and the sales at our modestly priced restaurant were down at least 25% - hotels lost a ton of money as well.
On Memorial Day, I was out in the ghost towns of Virginia City and Nevada City in Montana, very popular tourist destination - we had the town to ourselves.
It's not just Michigan.
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Old 06-07-2010, 02:52 PM
 
4,176 posts, read 6,307,158 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by electric_lady View Post
That's definitely a shocker.
But, in all fairness, it's the same in a lot of tourist areas. I lived and worked in Aspen, Colorado last year and that is a magnet for WEALTHY tourists, and the sales at our modestly priced restaurant were down at least 25% - hotels lost a ton of money as well.
On Memorial Day, I was out in the ghost towns of Virginia City and Nevada City in Montana, very popular tourist destination - we had the town to ourselves.
It's not just Michigan.

People talk about Michigan like it's in a league of its own but it's just a matter of scale. Things are bad everywhere. As a whole, MI may have the largest UE rate but the Economy is very weak in the vast majority of states and metro areas. Some areas of Michigan (Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, etc.) are doing much better than the state as a whole. OTOH, places like metro Flint, Detroit proper and parts of metro Detroit are doing very poorly.

It's all relative. TX is doing better than the nation at large, but it's hard to say that TX is booming. Not that long ago, MD Anderson in Houston was on a hiring freeze and had trouble funding its Post-Docs. The TX Medical Center as a whole was hurting pretty badly, though it may not be quite that bad right now.
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Old 06-07-2010, 04:36 PM
 
4 posts, read 12,551 times
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Wichita was booming on the otherhand. Trafic is horrible for that town and people are out everywhere. I was shocked at how dead it was in Michigan. I have heard it is bad in other places like Florida and Arizona, California, but in all my years of living in Michigan [38] I have never seen it so dead. Walmart was the only places that had traffic. Places like Old Navy were out of business in Gaylord and so were many others, even the Ace hardware were gone. Very hard times there. When I saw people I knew they all asked why did you come back? Theres nothing here. I said it was just to visit. I saw one home that sold for 19,000 that we built several years ago for 250,000 I could not believe my eyes. The buyer said her husband works remodeling military bases and they could not pass this up. Its a cheap retirement home. I guess it is.
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Old 06-07-2010, 05:02 PM
 
Location: NE philadelphia
550 posts, read 2,045,625 times
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well if the weather was as nice as i keep hearing it was...up north (all family and friends) was where people were OUT on their boats, their friend's boats, and at the beach!!!!!

the memorial day parade saturday aft. in mac. city was a great turnout and the pageant at the fort had one of their highest turnouts ever! just bad timing-beachgoers and boaters is where it was at

just from what i heard and saw pictures of....
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Old 06-07-2010, 05:09 PM
 
Location: Huntington Woods, MI
1,742 posts, read 3,982,672 times
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As horrible as Gaylord is, the Old Navy closed do to issues with their lease, not lack of business. That's why nothing has ever moved into the middle units because the rent is so outrageous. I was in Gaylord on memorial weekend and it was farely busy. Gaylord always seemed busiest during the week vs. weekend. Just because you happened to be in Petoskey at a moment when no one was out says nothing of the economy.
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Old 06-07-2010, 05:44 PM
 
Location: West Michigan
12,082 posts, read 38,704,557 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scolls View Post
As horrible as Gaylord is, the Old Navy closed do to issues with their lease, not lack of business. That's why nothing has ever moved into the middle units because the rent is so outrageous. I was in Gaylord on memorial weekend and it was farely busy. Gaylord always seemed busiest during the week vs. weekend. Just because you happened to be in Petoskey at a moment when no one was out says nothing of the economy.
Gaylord has been like that for years for some reason. Busy during the week and slower on the week-ends. I think MofromCK has a good point that most people are out on their boats, out with friends, or home enjoying a meal together at 7:45 PM on a beautiful Saturday. Not walking around downtown or sitting in a park.

Ludington was very busy that week-end, and has been ever since. Shoot, today was busy even. Went out on Hamlin Lake with the boat and there were a lot of people out and about. I put in at the Ludington State Park and it was quite busy for a Monday.
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Old 06-07-2010, 06:18 PM
 
Location: Boyne Country
809 posts, read 1,941,224 times
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Petoskey, is far from dead and dying. I grew up there and still in the area frequently. The downtown area is busy at times and not busy at other times. Alot of people on Saturday and Sunday (on Memorial Day weekend) were having picnics, visiting area beaches, out on the lakes or out of town with their families. Not a good day to peek in and make an assessement.
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Old 06-07-2010, 07:48 PM
 
Location: Holland, MI
50 posts, read 139,891 times
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I was in Petoskey this past weekend and it was fairly slow, but I attribute that somewhat to the rain. It was nice during the day on Saturday, and I found a few people enjoying the parks and wheelway. I went to a concert at the casino on Saturday and it looked to be at full capacity (mostly locals, I would guess). When I left early on Sunday morning the parking lot at the Perry Hotel was about 1/3rd full so it seemed they didn't have many guests for Saturday night. When I go back the first weekend in August, I'm sure it will be hopping, just like last year. Can't wait!
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Old 06-07-2010, 09:02 PM
 
Location: Boyne Country
809 posts, read 1,941,224 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunsetSky View Post
I was in Petoskey this past weekend and it was fairly slow, but I attribute that somewhat to the rain. It was nice during the day on Saturday, and I found a few people enjoying the parks and wheelway. I went to a concert at the casino on Saturday and it looked to be at full capacity (mostly locals, I would guess). When I left early on Sunday morning the parking lot at the Perry Hotel was about 1/3rd full so it seemed they didn't have many guests for Saturday night. When I go back the first weekend in August, I'm sure it will be hopping, just like last year. Can't wait!
Which brings up the valuable point that there are more exciting things to do then walk the streets of Petoskey when in the area.
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