Nonprofits withstand economy with innovation, willpower
With the fundraising season well underway, local nonprofits are still struggling to make do with the resources they have.
economy
Why I dive: Reclaiming food’s value and joy
It’s hard to see the value in food when you walk past aisles and aisles of it. The overwhelming volume of boxed, canned and processed items strip food of its value. There is more than one reason that local farmer’s markets, community gardens, heirloom fruits and vegetables and seasonal foods have gained in popularity. Meeting your food in this way creates a connection. It adds value that is lost in the industrial, consumerist agricultural system.
The hopes and risks of starting a small business: ECO Ride
St. Augustine is the fertile ground which cultivates the growth of many unique small businesses. One particular local business, ECO Ride Taxi, is one.
Students stay at home, despite claims of economic recovery
America’s economy hit a major downturn in 2008. The housing bubble crises left Americans in economic turmoil, leaving many individuals financially destitute. Many questions have developed concerning the recovery rate. If the economy is recovering, as the media suggests, why are so many college students…
Local gourmet cupcake shop prospering at the beach
By Hannah Bleau | gargoyle@flagler.edu
In the midst of a bleak economy, Americans have still turned to gourmet cupcakes as the new, affordable luxury item. Gourmet cupcake shops are prospering.
Small businesses have been struggling the past five years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 200,000 small businesses have gone under between 2008 and 2010. The same cannot be said for the cupcake industry. Market research center NPD found that approximately 669.4 million cupcakes were sold October 2010 to October 2011 – in the midst of the economic crisis.
Enough with the ‘War on Women’
By Hannah Bleau | gargoyle@flagler.edu
I’m a young conservative woman. I know I’m in the minority. But it breaks my heart when I hear the “War on Women” rhetoric because none of it is remotely true. I care deeply about my own gender, and it rubs me the wrong way when I hear women on the other side call conservative women idiots.
Dealing with tourism discount demands
By Emily Hoover | ehoover@flagler.edu
In an economy where prices are raising and job wages aren’t, tourists are used to getting a discount, and they often do, thanks to AAA, student, Florida resident and military discounts.
But when a place doesn’t offer these discounts, what makes people act like its a personal attack? Just because they’ve slapped on enough sunscreen to protect half the state of Florida from the perils of ultraviolent rays and they are still sunburned, they think everyone who is selling goods or services is going to do them a favor and take 10 percent off their purchase. Perhaps even get them in free just for stimulating the local economy.
Students struggle with debt, cost of living
By Cal Colgan | jcolgan@flagler.edu
Photos by Cal Colgan
Sitting in his bare living room without a couch, Jay Bergstrom said he can’t afford things like furniture until he pays off Flagler College.
Bergstrom withdrew from Flagler during last semester after emotional issues made him decide it would be best to take a break from school and go back home to Michigan.
“When I withdrew, I worked out the student loans and everything and I found out I owe Flagler $1100,” he said.
Unemployed can find daily jobs, charity money
by Jill Houser | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Several St. Johns County residents have traded in their suits and ties for ankle high work boots, hoping to get a job.
“It’s really sad,” Julie Tucker, customer service representative at Labor Ready in St. Augustine, said. “These aren’t homeless men. These are men who lost their jobs as actual business owners.”
Economy causes hookah lounge to close
By Liliana Cerquozzi | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Photo by Ashley Smith
For Ray Adieh, owner of Kulture Hookah Lounge, closing of his beloved business is a tragedy.
Businesses all around West King Street are shutting down. Some store owners have found no way around it.
“There is not enough business to sustain the bills,” Adieh said.