|
Moving
On
From SeGye
Oct 9, 2002
By Kim, Sang-Gook
Kim, a nail-salon owner, is seriously considering moving to Texas
as the recession continues. "There are much less customers
than before," Kim said, "we are planning to close our
business and move to Dallas because business here is getting worse
and living expenses are relatively high. My husband is visiting
Dallas to look for the place to start the business."
One Korean dry-cleaning owner mentioned, "Dry cleaners usually
become busy from September when the weather starts getting cooler.
However, nowadays, there are even less people than in the summer
when there are least customers"
The recession in New York City along with talks about the war against
Iraq have cost the Korean immigrants a serious drop in their business,
many of which are dry-cleaners, nail salons, delis and retailer
shops.
One member from the Korean Apparel Contractors Association of Greater
New York said, "About 150 Korean-owned companies across Manhattan
and Queens are in bad condition. Some of them are closed and some
others are changing into another business."
Increased numbers of Korean retailers and wholesalers are moving
to other states such as Texas, California and Georgia. Mr.Whang,
the president of Global Shipping and Trucking USA, Inc., said, "The
number of Korean businesses that moved to Atlanta increased from
30 percent to 40 last year. And many more companies are following
this trend."
As the overall national economy is in bad shape, peoples
greatest concern is unemployment. According to the Society of Human
Resource Management (SHRM) and Public Relation Firms who surveyed
671 workers, the biggest concern was unemployment (19 percent),
going out of business (13 percent), and losing their employee retirement
savings (12 percent). Only 4 percent of people worried about company
relocation.
Translated from Korean by JooYeon Lee
Back to The Citizen Page
|