RECESSION IN LONG BEACH: A SPECIAL REPORT : Such a Deal : Economic Slowdown Breeds Creativity, Aggressive Salesmanship
At the Moritz Funeral Home in Montebello, for a limited time only, you can have your loved one cremated for half price--$399--no age restrictions, no “add-on charges for communicable diseases.”
In times like these, not even dying is recession-proof.
“We noticed people weren’t purchasing any of the niceties. We saw it in the casket selection,” said Jerry Ryan, manager of the mortuary where funeral services are also on sale for $999 for anyone 60 and over, including a 10% discount on any casket. “This is our little way of helping out.”
The recession, now dragging through its 10th month, has area businesses in a hammerlock, and many of them are crying uncle. Sales are slumping at car lots, the real estate market is still half asleep and the hotel industry is dreading a long, tired summer.
But nothing breeds creativity like a frustrated salesperson, some of whom are going to great lengths to make you an offer you can’t refuse.
When home sales screeched to a halt, real estate agents started giving away $5 bills, Lotto tickets, homemade chocolate-chip cookies and Laker playoff seats to lure buyers to open houses. Cash bonuses, trips to Hawaii and Mercedes-Benzes have been known to go to the agent who brings in the magic client.
“If you have two relatively equal homes and a good buyer, then why not go where they’re giving something away?” said Rich Johnson of the Long Beach District Board of Realtors. “I don’t know if it makes the deal, but it helps.”
Some auto dealerships, pulverized by the slumping economy, are offering buyers free oil changes for five years, free carwashes for one year and a special “environmental package” that includes a detail job every six months.
If you can’t afford a new car, the salespeople at Pacific Lincoln Mercury in Downey will find you the used one of your dreams.
“We go to the car auction every week and look. You can put in your order and save 40 to 45% off the factory sticker price. I can get any town car--even the Cartier--for $10,000 off the sticker and save you up to a thousand on sales tax. These cars are loaded,” Sales Director Kelly Shaw said, all in one breath.
Shaw’s Downey showroom has been tailored to the customer (“The customer is king”) with soothing music and slow-talking salespeople. The dealership decided to cut back on advertising and lavish the customer with special treatment instead. They profess to take almost any offer--as long as they don’t lose money.
“We decided we would not participate in the recession,” Shaw sniffed. “We choose to pretend there is no recession. The recession does not affect us.”
Ever since the recession came to town, the tourists haven’t. Bookings at Long Beach’s posh downtown hotels have been slower than winter in the Adirondacks, officials confide.
Surveys show that consumers consider getting away a necessity rather than a luxury. But getting away does not necessarily mean staying in a swank hotel. As one hotel official puts it, “You can pitch a tent at Lake Arrowhead and call that getting away.”
Figuring that a booked hotel room at any price is better than an empty one, the people at the Holiday Inn near the Long Beach Airport offered $100 rooms for $17 per person as part of a St. Patrick’s Day promotion. On Valentine’s Day, they dubbed their cylinder-shaped hotel “The Tower of Love” and put together a package deal for sweethearts. When they threw a luau on Mother’s Day, they said the place was packed.
“This place is maxed out with Hawaiian people. They come from as far away as San Diego. Fills up the whole hotel,” spokesman Mark Eggink said gleefully.
Office buildings, faced with record vacancies, are giving breaks on the rent, throwing in everything from health club passes to private club memberships to land new tenants.
Southwest Airlines is letting children fly free this summer. Cafe PCH in Long Beach is offering a “recession special”--brunch for two for $22.95, a bottle of white wine included.
The operative word for consumers is bargain-- even where you’ve never bargained before.
“I tell my son, ‘Don’t you ever book a hotel room at the quoted price,’ ” one hotel sales manager said in a weak moment. “But for goodness’ sake, don’t tell your readers that. . . .”
