New York Observer – On a recent Friday afternoon, Terry Betteridge, owner of Betteridge Jewelers (est. 1897), was discussing the state of business on sun-drenched Greenwich Avenue in Greenwich, Conn., as the world at large continued to gasp and gawk at the loop-de-loops provided courtesy of the Dow and S&P.<\/p>\n
“Our business was still up a month ago over the previous year, and the previous year was record stuff,” said Mr. Betteridge. “It’s the last couple of weeks when it got really quiet, because everyone is shell-shocked. It’s a lot like it was on 9\/11, when you’d think the door is locked.”<\/p>\n
Outside on the avenue—an almost mile-long stretch of luxury storefronts—distinct breeds of shoppers were in motion: young moms in yoga pants pushing double-wide strollers; squealing packs of teenage girls in tank tops; and dignified older women with immovable bobs striding purposefully into Saks Fifth Avenue or local high-end department store Richards. Lexus SUVs and Mercedes sedans purred up and down the street, directed by Greenwich’s throwback traffic cops, who, in place of unsightly stoplights, make eye contact and personally invite pedestrians to cross the street. A Subway sandwich shop had the flat-screen tuned to CNBC, which was reporting that Lehman bonds had just been valued at 8.625 cents on the dollar<\/p>\n