Business Opinion

The Auto Credit Crisis: It's Real

BusinessWeek Online - Fri Oct 10, 8:08 AM ET

While Ed Wallace claims in his Oct. 8 column that there is no auto credit crisis (BusinessWeek.com, 10/7/08), I invite him to actually talk with any of the thousands of customers who couldn't secure adequate financing on a new vehicle purchase this past month.

  • Zara Thrives by Breaking All the Rules BusinessWeek Online - Fri Oct 10, 8:08 AM ET

    ARTEIXO, SPAIN Many U.S. apparel retailers are choking on slow-moving inventories as consumers hold back on spending. But Spain's Inditex, whose Zara chain pioneered cheap chic, is zipping ahead. The $13.8 billion company, which is closing in on Gap for the title of world's biggest clothing retailer, has nearly quadrupled sales, profits, and locations since 2000. This year, Inditex plans to expand by up to 640 stores. "They will weather the storms better than most of their rivals," says Michael Lewis, a supply-management professor at University of Bath's School of ...

  • Winmark: A Bright Spot in Dark Times BusinessWeek Online - Fri Oct 10, 8:08 AM ET

    Hard times have been pretty good to Rita Cortese. Since 2006, she has owned a Plato's Closet used clothing store in Deptford, N.J. In recent months, Cortese says, business has exploded as people descend on her store to buy or sell castoff shirts, dresses, and jeans. Cortese is so busy she recently built a shed out back to contain her overflowing inventory.