MSNBC:
You know it’s a bad sign when spa owners are stressing out.
Planet Beach Franchising, which oversees some 390 spas worldwide from its Marrero, La., headquarters, has seen sales dropping off this year as consumers tighten their belts to cope with the slumping economy.
“Looking at things long term, you worry about how you’re going to come up with your numbers at the end of the month,” says Angelina Vicknair, a company spokesperson. “It’s a stressful time.”
Planet Beach is not alone. By any measure, Stress Prevention Month got off to a bad start this October for small-business owners and their employees.
As lawmakers wrangled over a $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan aimed at easing the impact from the collapse of the nation’s largest banks, the world’s stock markets went into a tailspin. Read on…