by Caitlin Kenney

description
Andrew Black/Planet Money Facebook group

A taste of the economy at Grand Central Bakery in Portland, Ore.

Tim sends this indicator from Colorado Springs:

Economic Indicator: 9. Nine months was the amount of time that the new pizza place down the street stayed open. They moved from a really bad location a couple of miles away to a nicer location close to central down-town Colorado Springs. They completely renovated a space and installed all brand new equipment and furnishings. Did everything they could to make it look like a nice new up-scale pizza place. But it never looked like they had much business when I would walk by at lunch time.

 

This morning I walked by on my way to the coffee shop and looked in the window to see the place gutted. All the equipment and furnishings are gone, there are holes in the wall where restaurant equipment was ripped out. It looks like someone just took everything, and took it in a hurry.

How long can a business like that wait to see if they can repay their business loan? Nine months seems like a very short time for someone to just give up on a brand new expensive business venture.