Economists wonder whether high unemployment is the “new normal”
In 2007, Phoenix-based Goodmans Interior Structures, one of the Southwest’s largest office-furniture retailers, booked record sales “well in excess” of $100 million, according to CFO Douglas Klein. Asked about annual revenue for this year, Klein says, “We’ll end up half that size.”
Things are tough all over, of course, but this company’s prospects are especially noteworthy because its sales are so tightly linked to the overall employment picture. “Job growth,” Klein states flatly, “is what drives demand for our products.”
In that case, hold on to your Aeron chair. More than a year after the official end of the Great Recession, unemployment continues to hover near 10%, and Goodmans has had to dip into the all-too-familiar recession playbook. It has deferred certain marketing initiatives, reduced travel, shed warehouse space, and, yes, cut the size of its workforce.
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Spear & Company CPA 