Hey Sarge, you have a link for the target closings?
I spoke with one of the managers at the Target Garden Center this past weekend. They will be closing the garden centers sometime in Aug. He said they should be advertising the closes in the local newspapers.
All one off items, like discontinued patio furniture will be deeply discounted as well as any garden supplies (Soils amendments, fertilizers, polls, posts, etc.
The plants won't be discounted... they will be returned to the nurseries under contract agreements. Many of the Target garden centers will be enclosed and converted to food/grocery sections
So look for some great bargains at the closeouts.
NJ economy loses 1,900 jobs; public-sector employment sharply declines
http://www.app.com/article/20100714...obs-public-sector-employment-sharply-declines
Foreclosures climb in 75% of metro areas
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/29/real_estate/new_face_of_foreclosure/index.htm
July 29, 2010: 3:32 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Foreclosure filings climbed in 75% of the nation's metro areas during the first half of 2010, according to a report issued Thursday.
RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes, said that California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada continue to lead the nation in the rate of foreclosures. Las Vegas was the worst-hit city.
But now unemployment has replaced toxic mortgages as the leading cause of foreclosures throughout the country, according to spokesman Rick Sharga.
"Las Vegas has seamlessly shifted from having a high level of foreclosures due to bad loans," said Sharga, "to defaults caused by a high level of unemployment." Some 14.5% of its work force was idle in June, up 2.1 points from last June.
Las Vegas had one filing for every 15 households in the metro area. The second highest rate was in Cape Coral/Fort Myers, Fla., with one for every 20 households.
Two California cities, Modesto and Merced, tied for third with one filing for every 22 households.
The good news is that most of the worst-hit cities have actually seen their foreclosures rates decline, as the subprime crisis fades.
But while those cities have seen slight improvement, other areas are getting hit harder by the economy.
"Look at a place like Salt Lake City," said Sharga. "The foreclosure rise there appears to be entirely related to the economy," not because people can't afford their subprime loans.
Salt Lake's unemployment is up this year, rising 0.2% to 7.1% in June, even as the national unemployment rate dropped 0.2% to 9.5%.
Lenders filed foreclosure notices for one in every 48 Salt Lake City households during the first six months of 2010, a 55% increase over the same period in 2009.
