"What This Country Needs...

…Is a good, hard recession.”

I used to say that whenever traffic chronically choked the roads, stores and restaurants grew overcrowded, prices rose, and service and civility fell below minimal standards – the byproducts of an overheating economy. Recessions are capitalism’s way of weeding out the weak and the marginal. “Last hired, first fired”.

This recession is not like all the others I’ve known. Instead of firing their worst employees first, companies are cutting their most expensive and losing their experience, competence, professionalism, and work ethic. Instead of improving as the economy wrings out excess, service is eroding as responsibility devolves to cheap young slackers. Instead of the best companies prevailing, we are seeing survival of the cheapest.

Well, at least traffic doesn’t seem as bad lately.

The new credit card processor is finally integrated after Turnkey fixed their payment module. I don’t know if CDG Commerce will ultimately be a good move, but it should at least save me a little money (survival of the cheapest, remember?). I sure won’t miss Merchant Express. I will fire them next week, when I'm positive that CDG is working out.

The big DCI return credit finally came through, seven weeks after their initial error. I can start buying merchandise again. Their missing backorder appeared on the wrong credit card – I gave them my Amex number when my old MC was hacked. They charged me on 1/20, and I haven’t actually received the shipment yet, but at least there’s some indication that it might have gone out.

DCI’s commissioned sales rep has failed to answer three emails this week, so I’ll need to deal with them directly. I’m going to have to watch this company closely, and expect long delays in order fulfillment and problem resolution. It must be run by cheap young slackers.

Another weak week inspired me to reduce my 2009 sales plan again, from a 50% increase over 2008 to 25%. Any increase at all is optimistic, obviously, but Curio City started at such a low level that it needs to sustain double-digit growth if it’s ever going to support me.