Home Fashions and the Housing Crisis

As many people know, there is a current deflation in the housing market. In the past few years, the United States experienced a housing boom. But like most trends, we are now experiencing the aftermath which causes many Americans to be unsure about the value of their homes. The United States was accustomed to house hold wealth but now spending is a bad habit that many Americans are trying to get rid of.

The US has been aware of the fact that a Financial Crisis was approaching so immediate panic was inevitable. Therefore consumers did not go to department stores or home fashion stores to decorate their homes. Instead consumers are only purchasing things that are needed. Stores like Wal mart are able to sell more home fashions items then a specialty store such as Pier One. This is due the need for Americans to tighten their financial belts in order to not dig a hole for themselves they cannot get out of.

Of course there was a point in time when the wealthy and middle class could afford to splurge a few extra dollars on cute accessories and furniture for their homes. Now many people fear the financial back lash and do not want to spend the money on their homes in the case that they are not worth much when they are sold. In all reality this is a very smart way to look at your financial situation but the home fashions industry has taken huge hits because of it and some are even going bankrupt.

Research found at this website;
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1210/p01s01-usgn.html

Guest Speaker

On November 14 2008, our CRS class has had the pleasure of hearing a guest speaker. Her name is Elyse Mullis and she works for a quilting company associated with Westminster Fibers. Her job is involved with creating the graphics associated with the sales of quilting fabrics. She is in charge of the website and advertisements used in this and other companies contracted with Westminster. She is a recent UNCG graduate who majored in English and minored in the Consumer Apparel and Retail Studies department. She got her start in the job she is in now by serving an internship at the Greensboro Coliseum where she got her start with graphic design. Elyse really emphasized the importance of where you serve internships and the networking you can develop.

The father of the roommate she had in college is the president of the company she now works for which really shows the importance of who you know. It was really helpful to hear from a recent graduate doing something that she really enjoys and listening to the interesting aspects of her current job. It was also very informative to hear about her experience on the CRS trip to New York and how she passed out her resume while she was at the market and she actually heard back from one of the companies that were in attendance.

One of my biggest fears about after graduating is the amount of competition involved in the apparel and textile industry. It was nice to hear about a different type of textile corporation that is interesting and does not seem too competitive and actually enjoyable. Elyse started from the very bottom and said that in the beginning of her work at the company she is with she had to make a lot of coffee and pretty much had to do many errands. It was the importance of proving herself and showing the potential that she had which got her the position she has now. Elyse was an excellent speaker and I feel I learned a lot from her presentation that and has made me very excited about working in the fashion or textile industry.