Many Charlotte, N.C. Workers Still Pessimistic about Prospects in 2004.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News January 1, 2004 By Amy Baldwin, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Jan. 1–Despite Wall Street’s double-digit gains last year and signs that the economic turnaround is quickening, many in the Charlotte area remain downcast about 2004 bringing improvements to jobs, stock portfolios or business in general. site oasis day spa

That’s the take from locals in the know, and we’re not talking economists either. If you want real peoples’ perspectives on economic conditions, talk to those who listen for a living. Think of the folks who pour our coffee or our gin and tonics, or those who trim our beards or pluck our eyebrows.

“I haven’t detected anyone saying things are going to get better. I haven’t heard that at all. It has all been on the downside,” said Bill Thigpen, owner of Tattoo Bills.

At his shop on South Tryon Street, Thigpen, a tattooist and body piercer, said many customers lost their jobs in the three-year bear market and many more lament labor being outsourced overseas. The Carolinas lost 50,600 manufacturing jobs in the last year, according to state statistics. In all, South Carolina lost 47,100 nonfarm jobs in the 12 months ending Nov. 30; North Carolina gained 5,300 nonfarm jobs, despite the loss of 31,800 manufacturing jobs.

“They talk about all of our manufacturing and how it is just not here any more,” he said. “Our steel and iron and all is shipped in from somewhere else.” Still smarting from ghastly stock market declines from 2000-2002, millions of layoffs, and measly — if any — raises, people are “just hanging in there,” reported Reece Starnes, owner and sole barber at Sedgefield Barber Shop on South Boulevard.

“There are some (who are) optimistic. They think it is going to change or pick up. But they are just like me and you, they don’t know, and it is hard to tell,” said Starnes, who’s been cutting hair and shaving faces in his no-frills shop for 34 years.

At Oasis Day Spa on East Seventh Street, co-owner Roberta Johnson heard one woman say during a facial that she didn’t like her job. This woman wanted to leave her position but was afraid she wouldn’t find another, because jobs have been so scarce, Johnson said.

“I get that a lot,” Johnson said. “It seems like people have settled and aren’t really happy.” At Carolina Family Restaurant on Wilkinson Boulevard near the airport, the mood is decidedly pessimistic, said Maria Gavrilis, who waits tables and works the cash register. Gavrilis, who greets regulars by name, said she has seen lots of patrons lose their jobs, mostly those who worked for US Airways or Duke Power.

“I talked to one (former) Duke guy recently. He sent out 60 resumes and got only three call backs,” she said. “We’re like a family here. We learn about people’s lives.” But not everyone is negative.

“You have some optimists who say the stock markets are going to bounce back up and this is how it’s gonna be in an economic recovery,” Gavrilis said.

Across town in the tiny Dilworth neighborhood, bartender Keith Miller said he never hears people moaning about money or the economy. website oasis day spa

“Most people in this area are optimistic people,” said Miller, who works at Sole Spanish Grill on East Boulevard.

Same goes for the clientele at the Charlotte Cafe in the Park Road Shopping Center.

“In here, it’s more optimism than pessimism,” said Dan Hendrickson, manager and server. “I don’t hear customers say, ‘I just lost my job and I don’t have any money.’” Unfortunately, the same doesn’t hold true for several of Hendrickson’s friends who’ve been laid off, he said.

Give it time and the public’s mood will improve with everything else, said the Rev. Jody Seymour of Davidson United Methodist Church.

“If things are getting better, and a lot of indicators say they are, there are still a lot of people catching up to that reality,” Seymour said. “People may just be a little cautious or afraid to feel good again.” UAIR, DUK,