I just booked a same-day hair appointment with the woman who cuts my hair, one of the women noted in DC for their skill with curly hair. I used to have to book at least 2-3 weeks in advance. My mother also booked with a few days notice recently.
I get my hair cut at Bang, where a cut and blowdry run in the $30 range, not one of the expensive Georgetown salons. If they have a lot of openings, it means that people are cutting back on getting their hair done entirely, not merely finding a less pricey place to do it. I'm told that hairdressing has long been thought of as a countercyclical good. Not any more, apparently.
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In a different vein my girlfriend said that she was talking to someone she knows who owns a mortgage company in Grand Junction, CO and he said that they had 100 applications last month and had to hire 3 new full time staff (they already have around 40). Housing, of course, is not exactly a countercyclical good.
Anyway, I got my hair cut in Georgetown yesterday at a place that charges $25 and was able to get a same day appointment, but then again that's usually the case.
According to recent news reports, Grand Junction as a whole is currently countercyclical.
However, I do have three friends on the eastern side of the rockies, all first-time homebuyers, for whom the combination of depressed housing prices, the Obama $8k tax credit, and CHFA assistance, was too compelling to ignore.
Oh, another DC-centric anecdote. Last Friday I went to Matchbox for dinner at 7:15 and the wait was 1.25 hours so I went to La Tasca where the wait was 30 mins. Then went across the street to the Gallery Place movie theater and the film showing I saw was sold out.
Tough times indeed...
Housing, of course, is not exactly a countercyclical good.
Record low interest rates are attracting a lot of re-financing applications. High applications does not mean people are buying houses in high numbers.
I got a haircut today and had this conversation with my barber. She and I agreed that men will go an extra week now before getting a haircut, saving 2 or 3 haircuts a year. It does not sound like much but that is a real mindset out there.
My barber is next to a coffee shop where I have gone irregularly for the last 10 years. The chain shut down all of their stores recently in my parish (county).
In the same strip mall, a 4 year old mid priced restaurant closed (small chain store), a framing shop closed, and a mattress store, all items that folks can easily cut back on or postpone.
I know a lot of people in the home building business, and the custom builders have gone from 25 houses a year to one or two and the suppliers are closing left and right.
In really down times, you buy a pair of scissors and cut your own damn hair!
I get a #2 buzzcut at Holiday hair every 4 weeks for $18, including tip.....takes the "stylist" about 40 seconds to do it
...the wait is about 8 minutes, good times or bad. The only thing that tends to slow things up is older women with purple hair with what appears to be tin foil attached to it.....
$18 for 40 seconds work with $20 worth of equipment. I can see that life is real tough for those without a college education.
My barber used to be able to call the bottom of a recession pretty accurately. When things pick up people need more haircuts, for the big sales meeting, the interview, etc....