We are facing the worse hoilday season/fourth quarter in my retail career. Possibly the worse retail economy in the last fifty years. Please spread the word about my store. For those of you who shop Evanglines, keep doing so, as they area another localy owned and operated Halloween store in Sacramento. If you live in my area, to the east of downtown, please stop by my store.

Here is my store...

http://www'>www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwO...ttp://www. halloweenex. com/stores. htm

Here is how you get to it...

http://www'>www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwO...ttp://www. google. com/maps?q=5961+Birdcage+St,+Citrus+Heights,+CA+95610,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

Please support the localy owned and operated (by ME!) Halloween Express!


My boss, Bertram Chatham, was interviewed for a story on credit lines to local businesses.
Some Highlights:

"Bertram Chatham, owner of a Citrus Heights Halloween store, says he's just as good a businessman today as he was a year ago.


So when Wells Fargo & Co. slashed his available line of credit this summer from $26,000 to $10,000, he knew he'd gotten snared by the nation's credit crunch. The reduced financing prodded him to scale back his operation this fall, at a cost to the economy of about 30 jobs.


No wonder Chatham believes in the $700 billion financial rescue plan that's gripped Wall Street, Washington and the presidential campaign.


"What they're trying to do is … unfreeze the credit," said Chatham, owner of Halloween Express of Northern California. "This is necessary.
"

Chatham's experience demonstrates how Wall Street and Main Street are married to each other, for better or worse. Banks, investment banks and other financial titans, choking on bad real estate debts, are squeamish about making new loans. Even solidly profitable institutions are increasingly conservative.


There's more: Without a federal bailout, the argument goes, the current clampdown on credit could turn into a widespread financial panic that takes down strong lenders along with the weak and does catastrophic harm to the economy. Under that theory, the bailout – under which the government would buy up Wall Street's swollen portfolio of troubled mortgage-backed securities – is an expensive but necessary step to prevent doomsday.
"

And:

"For the past six years, Chatham has owned the Sacramento-area franchise of Halloween Express, a national chain. The stores are open only about six weeks a year, but running the business is practically a year-round job, he said.


Last year, he ran two stores and this year planned to run three. In late spring he asked Wells Fargo to nearly double his line of credit, to $50,000. The early indication was he'd get approved.


"If this had been three or four years ago, it would have been a snap of the finger," he said. "We've got good credit, our business is a good going concern.
"

But then he was told that higher-ups had nixed the increase. And a month later came even more startling news: The $26,000 line had been cut to $10,000.


"We didn't understand it, (but) we understand it now," Chatham said. "They simply don't have the money to loan." Despite his disappointment, he said he holds Wells Fargo in high regard.


The bank said it wouldn't comment on individual borrowers but said "our lending continues to be based on a customer's personal and business creditworthiness. We do take into account the economic environment and its effect on particular industries or businesses.
"

With a smaller credit line, Chatham decided to open just one store, at the Marketplace at Birdcage center in Citrus Heights.


He probably could have stretched financially and opened a second location, but the bank's decision felt like a warning of sorts: If banks are tightening their belts, consumers are, too.


"Credit is drying up," Chatham said. "Not just for the big banks but the guys on the street.
""


Here is the link to full article:

http://www. sacbee. com/749/story/1271870. html