Scrap Yards, Dollar Stores And Debt Collectors See Good Times In A Bad Economy

[Purveyor]

Warnings of heavy rain and wind approaching on a recent Saturday morning could not keep dozens from showing up with copper wire, mangled aluminum beach chairs, even disabled cars at LJS Scrap Metal Inc.'s 100,000- square-foot yard in Oceanside. The scrappers scurried among mountainous piles of steel and traded junk that had been plucked from Dumpsters, curbed garbage cans and construction lots for cents on the pound.

Business was booming not despite the economic downturn, but, at least in part, because of it. The turmoil on Wall Street, government bailouts, rising prices, worsening inflation and a stubborn job market have pounded consumer confidence. Americans struggling to stretch their paychecks have resorted to other options to make an extra buck to put toward gas or groceries. For Michael Taylor, owner of LJS, that has led to a state of contentment currently uncommon among business owners.

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Besides the boon for scrap yards, thrift shops and dollar stores are becoming popular as more shoppers on Long Island and nationwide flock to them for bargains. Debt counselors are as busy as ever, and companies contracted to collect delinquent rent and medical bills are in higher demand.

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The slow economy also has been a boon for those who help manage debt. Michigan-based GreenPath Debt Solutions, a nonprofit counseling service that offers debt management programs, provided 121,522 people nationwide with pre-bankruptcy counseling through August, a 24 percent increase over the same period in 2007.

Long Island numbers are hard to come by, but Sarah Fouquart, manager of GreenPath's offices in Jericho and Hauppauge, said bankruptcy sessions, costing $50 each, also are up on the Island. The revamped bankruptcy law requires people to have at least one counseling session before filing for bankruptcy and another before debt can be discharged. According to the Administrative Offices of the U.S. Courts, 9,070 personal bankruptcy filings were made on Long Island in 2007.

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NEWSDAY: http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzcov5852070sep22,0,6332754.story