Business is picking up for retailer Renee Charlton in this small manufacturing city on Lake Michigan, but that may not be a good omen for residents. She sells secondhand clothes.
Residents who waved flags as President Obama sped through their eastern Wisconsin community last month have been shopping at consignment and thrift shops out of necessity, says Charlton, owner of On Second Thought, which sells women’s clothes, purses, shoes and jewelry. Her sales rose 20% in 2010.
She’s glad to have the business but concerned that middle-class folks in Manitowoc have yet to recover from the worst recession in decades, despite Obama’s efforts during his first two years. Her 27-year-old son, a computer whiz, is a prime example: Unable to find full-time work, he has enrolled in a two-year criminal justice program at a nearby technical college.
“People are still cutting back,” Charlton says. “They’re still watching what they spend.”
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(USA Today) For the Middle Class, a Slow Climb Back
Business is picking up for retailer Renee Charlton in this small manufacturing city on Lake Michigan, but that may not be a good omen for residents. She sells secondhand clothes.
Residents who waved flags as President Obama sped through their eastern Wisconsin community last month have been shopping at consignment and thrift shops out of necessity, says Charlton, owner of On Second Thought, which sells women’s clothes, purses, shoes and jewelry. Her sales rose 20% in 2010.
She’s glad to have the business but concerned that middle-class folks in Manitowoc have yet to recover from the worst recession in decades, despite Obama’s efforts during his first two years. Her 27-year-old son, a computer whiz, is a prime example: Unable to find full-time work, he has enrolled in a two-year criminal justice program at a nearby technical college.
“People are still cutting back,” Charlton says. “They’re still watching what they spend.”
Read it all.