Sunday, July 27, 2014 ■ ■■+ SECTION D SEE WHO’S MAKING NEWS IN CAREER ALMANAC Amandeep Kochar is leading the new software division at Baker & Taylor, a digital and print book Business Sunday distributor based in Charlotte. 2D charlotteobserver.com/business Consumers are padding their checking accounts Americans have changed their spending habits since recession’s end By E. Scott Reckard Los Angeles Times With wounds from the reces- sion still fresh, chastened Amer- icans are hoarding more cash in their checking accounts than at any time in the past 25 years. The defensive stance, unchar- acteristic of previous periods of low inflation and an improving economy, reflects how debt-bur- dened Americans have striven to clean up their personal finances since the recession ended five years ago. The lack of attractive invest- ment alternatives, with savings accounts paying next to nothing and the stock market already at lofty heights, is another factor, fi- nancial analysts said. A report, released last week by PHOTOS BY TODD SUMLIN - [email protected] bank consulting firm Moebs Ser- With the economy rebounding, there is a renewed appetite for gym memberships, ranging from small and inexpensive to upscale. vices, calculated the average bal- ance for U.S. checking accounts at $4,436 at the end of last year – more than double the average of $2,100 over the 25 years of the an- nual survey. During good economic times, when unemployment and infla- tion are low, the average balance SWANKY in consumer checking accounts is about $1,400, the survey noted. “When times get difficult, the consumer sits things out, and checking balances get larger, nor- mally upward to $3,000 or a bit SWEAT: beyond,” the study said. “General- ly there is higher unemployment, lower inflation and falling prices.” Charlotte’s gym By contrast, free-spending Americans had allowed their Clary Hilliard Gray works out at Hilliard Studio checking accounts to drop to an Method which she co-owns with her mother. average of just $788 in 2007, the scene goes upscale last year before the near-melt- down of the nation’s financial sys- tem, according to the study by the From specialized gyms to one-stop fitness The price to be fit: Lake Bluff, Ill., firm. Charlotte’s upscale gym scene The Moebs report, previously centers, chic gyms are the latest trend confidential for its clients, is fresh AIR: $150/month; drop-in rate: evidence of how the devastating $30. economic downturn worldwide By Rachel Adams-Heard priced clubs, boutique specialized clubs CHARLOTTE ATHLETIC has changed consumer habits, es- [email protected] and then upscale clubs, while the middle CLUB: $98/month, plus optional pecially on spending and saving. s Charlotte’s gym count market is not growing,” said Meredith Pop- locker and laundry service starting As people have been cleaning seems to grow comparable to pler, a spokeswoman for the International at $20/mo.; drop-in rate: $24. up their financial houses, they that of its churches, fitness gu- Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. FLYWHEEL: $175/month for a have only slowly increased rus are finding themselves From 2009 to 2013, the number of health three-month unlimited member- spending, and that has helped to with a plethora of new op- and racquet clubs in the U.S. grew by 8.1 ship; drop-in rate: $18 (rates are slow the recovery because spend- Ations – many with a lofty price tag. percent, according to IHRSA. The average for both Flywheel and Flybarre). ing typically represents about From specialized gyms offering one type American reported spending $49 a month HILLIARD STUDIO METHOD: two-thirds of economic growth. of class to one-stop fitness centers with an on a health club membership in 2012, up 14 $280/month; drop-in rate: $27. The study was based on Federal almost country-clublike feel, the city’s gym percent from $43 a month in 2011. METRO FITNESS CLUB: $175/ Reserve reports and proprietary scene has moved beyond the YMCAs and In Charlotte, the arrival of specialized month for six-month unlimited data from 2,800 banks and credit 24 Hour Fitnesses. gyms has brought classes such as Flywheel, club access and group classes unions, said economist G. Mi- It’s an industry that seems to indicate a group cycling brand started in New York (including CrossFit); drop-in rate: chael Moebs, who heads the firm. growing consumer confidence as the coun- City, and Xtend Barre, a Pilates-ballet hy- $15. Moebs said he released the find- try rebounds from the 2008 financial col- brid that began in 2008. XTEND BARRE: $130/month for ings for the first time because he lapse. For these classes, participants can pay a six-month unlimited member- is confident his numbers could be “What we are seeing post-recession is anywhere from $20 a class to more than ship; drop-in rate: $20. off by no more than 10 percent. that there is growth in small clubs, low- SEE GYMS, 2D “If it’s off by 10 percent, the amount in the accounts is $4,000 instead of $4,400,” Moebs said. “So what? It’s still twice what we’ve seen in the past.” He is urging his clients to pre- pare for a big withdrawal of funds Microsoft makes design central whenever depositors decide the economy is strong enough for Tech giant has changed Microsoft’s corporate vice pres- them to use the cash to pay down its tune as it plans for ident overseeing personal com- mortgages, take a vacation or buy puters, tablets and phones. “It’s cars. competitive future changed now.” UCLA economist Lee Ohanian By Ryan Nakashima Even as the company elimi- said the study shows that despite Associated Press nates 18,000 jobs – most of them a recent burst in jobs – employers REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft is related to its purchase of Nokia’s have added more than 200,000 putting an emphasis on design devices unit – Microsoft is em- jobs in each of the last five months excellence more than ever – to powering people such as Bel- – there remain “some very trou- make its products more compet- fiore and Ralf Groene, chief de- blesome issues in the economy.” itive with offerings from rivals signer for the Microsoft Surface Until recently, much of the de- Apple, Google and Amazon and tablet computer, to challenge cline in unemployment was from to prod its hardware making conventional notions of what people dropping out of the job partners to dream up new, more Windows devices can do. market, he said. Growth in pro- innovative devices. Microsoft’s new design ethos ductivity is running at less than In recent years, the software is a break from the past – a time, half its usual rate, Ohanian said, giant has put a priority on fash- not long ago, when the compa- and the number of long-term un- ioning devices that work around ny’s software was largely a employed remains high. people’s lives, help reduce infor- TED S. WARREN - AP workplace necessity housed in “That weighs on people’s mation overload and become in- Albert Shum, formerly a designer for Nike, was part of the team functional plastic that was craft- minds,” he said. “They think, ‘If I timate, personal and knowl- that developed the use of ‘live tiles’ in Windows phones. ed by other companies. lose my job, will I be out of work edgeable about their users. It’s no secret that Apple is the for two years?’ It’s scary.” And yes, Microsoft is even try- 1,400. They have backgrounds as building user interfaces and world’s most beloved technolo- The result, he said, has been a ing to make devices attractive, varied as filmmaking, food and mocking up devices with wood gy company in part because its wave of caution, with Americans cool and desirable, top execu- footwear. While that pales in and 3-D printers. devices are sleek, comfortable, paying down old debts, thinking tives say. comparison to the 64,000 engi- “It used to be that engineers and easy to use. And Microsoft twice about new borrowing and Over the past four years, Mi- neers who make up over half the ruled the roost and engineers now wants to infuse its products keeping cash on hand as a safe- crosoft has doubled the number company’s workforce, designers would bring in designers to with the same qualities. guard. of designers it employs to some are now shaping products, make icons,” says Joe Belfiore, SEE MICROSOFT, 4D +.