I wish I could fix the banking situation. People seem to be trying to, but....
I'm aware that every company is handling it differently. The big banks extend credit. Last November, when we were looking at what price we could open at, I was getting comments from some of our buyers or companies that they only had half the credit they had last year.
Also, in the past I could sometimes exceed that credit limit, and they would stay with me. But this year, one guy called a few days before the season opened and said he just had a call from his banker and the banker had told him, this is what you've got, and don't go over it.
Also, we met with a company out of Boston that gives credit outlooks, and they warned us. We know it's difficult to get insurance for our receivables, but they warned us to be very careful about how much receivable we ran up, as some restaurant chains were going into bankruptcy.
So I don't have a solution. As time goes on and the recession runs its course, hopefully we'll get back to a better credit situation