Its hard out here for a pimp (and how to make it better)

December 24, 2007 by Bill Gould, Publisher.

Normally I just write the hard news stuff, the murders, car wrecks and the tweekers getting busted - and leave the opinion page stuff to PT. I do feel that it is time to step up and say a few words myself about the state of the local business community. As everyone who has not had their head in the sand knows, the economy sucks right now. This has been made clear on a local level with the closing of many businesses in the recent past. On any given day you can hardly drive through any part of the Temecula Valley and not see a guy, who clearly needs the money, holding a sign for a furniture store who is ‘liquidating all assets’. Clearly, this is the sign of our current times.

Many people have come to this site in recent days reading the news of Cuppys being shut down, Channel 27 layoffs and the biggest - Abbot Labs (Guidant for the old school Temecula people) layoffs of over 700 local employees. Now PT writes of the closing of Roda Viva, and I know of a few other small businesses that have closed in recent months and a few others who are struggling.


One thing that is for sure, Pechanga, the behemoth casino on the south side of the valley is not going out of business anytime soon, a line of cars can be seen streaming in and out of there all day and all night, 7 days a week. Many people consider this proof that the economy is fine and Temecula is OK.

Simply not true, and this is why:

The reality is that many of the people who line up to get into Pechanga are from out of town, evidence of this can be seen as they exit the 15 freeway southbound at the newly named Temecula Parkway. The line off the freeway is long most days. Most of the tourists enjoy the casino and take a tour of the local wine country and thats that. They don’t really venture out to visit local businesses, instead electing to go to the chain store that they are familiar with. All this while most of the local residents eat at home, watch tv and go to bed - whereas 18 months ago the same families would have been out to dinner, seeing a movie and getting dessert at an ice cream place.

The key is moderation. Many ‘mortgage rich’ people of the recent past real estate boom went way over the top, spent way beyond their means and bought homes all over town in hopes that they would be the next Trump. They bought Hummers that they cant afford to put gas in. They bought boats and other watercraft. They bought RV’s and memberships to RV parks. Clothing and shoes flew out of the stores. People were selling the homes they could afford to get on a waiting list for a home with twice the payment in a new development - and that is before the rate adjusted. Now all of the same people are in crisis mode and not spending a dime and it is causing a harsh ripple effect across the small business community of the Temecula Valley.

Again, the key is moderation. Shutting off the money spigot and not leaving your home is not the answer either. I openly encourage people to get out and spend a little after this holiday season. Only us local residents know where the great local shops are. This is to say, if your making $75,000 a year, don’t go buy a new $80,000 luxury car just because your not in foreclosure, but do go out for a $40 meal and leave a fair tip for your server. The key to this idea is for you to spend your money at locally owned businesses. Local business people support our community in a host of different ways that the large corporations cant and/or wont. They sponsor your local youth teams. They give to schools with fund raisers and they donate food and supplies to arts and performance groups. Most of all they do these things because they live here and believe in what they are doing - not because of a tax write off or a photo-op. Help support quality local merchants so they can prosper and help support you and your neighbors.

Soon, I hope to see the sign of our times as a ‘Grand Opening’ to our new local economy.

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