Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Tattered paper signs of the time

Bulletin board

Leila Navidi

A community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex in Henderson.

In the apartment complex’s mail room, hanging above the rows of metal mailboxes, the large, cork bulletin boards prove an unexpected window into the economy.

For residents of Camden Fairways Apartments in Henderson, the notices posted with push pins, staples and pieces of tape, on sheets of paper and photographs, speak more clearly and loudly about the recession than the numbers at the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange or the latest employment figures from the government.

A year ago the only memorable post was a pizza delivery discount the apartment managers had won from Domino’s.

Today, the board is a collective cry for help from people in financial free-fall.

“Priced to Move!”

“Selling Everything!”

“Need Cash!”

It’s here, on this bulletin board, that an underground economy plays out.

TVs and speakers for sale, along with beds and nightstands, tables and dishes. People want to clean your apartment, provide day care for your children.

One flier says it all: “Desperation Sale!”

People are rushing to unload in days what they have worked months, years, a lifetime for. In some cases, the payoff is little more than moving expenses. But what’s left? Moreover, who’s buying?

And at least one person thinks there’s money to be made by tapping the anguish displayed here. His flier promises instant credit card approval and low interest rates, regardless of credit history.

‘We don’t go anywhere’

In the middle of one bulletin board, a flier offers day care between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

It was posted by Maria Shelton.

So far, she has gotten only one response.

She and her husband moved to Henderson from Houston last summer, mostly to be closer to family. Shelton’s stepdaughter lives in Reno, and the airfare to Las Vegas is cheaper, which means more visits. Still, finding steady work is difficult.

Shelton’s husband owns and operates a legal recruiting firm. But business is typically dry in the last quarter of the year, so he’s had to take a job as a car salesman. Not much relief there. With little money coming in, the couple are spending their savings to pay bills and rent.

“Everybody wants to come see you because you live in Las Vegas,” Shelton said. “But we eat at home, and we don’t go anywhere.”

A notice posted on a community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex located in Henderson.

A notice posted on a community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex located in Henderson.

Both lost jobs in construction

Among those who have turned to the bulletin board for help are Viviana and Alfonso Lopez. Five years ago they left their jobs as 99-Cent store managers in San Diego to share in the building boom on the Las Vegas Strip.

The promise of better work and a new life rang true: Before long, like the thousands of American dreamers who flocked here over the past decade, the couple landed jobs in construction. But when the recession hit, the boom went bust — and the dream turned into more of a nightmare.

Unemployed for nearly a year, they turned to the bulletin board.

Their flier, designed on a home computer, says: “House Clining. 1 Bethroom $60.”

“It’s the only thing my husband and I could come up with,” Viviana says. “It’s been awful. I go and put in applications, but everywhere I go there’s 50 applications in front of me.”

She has posted the same flier in dozens of apartment complexes throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Over the course of two months, she’s received one phone call. Unemployment benefits run out this month.

Maybe they’ll leave.

“We miss San Diego, and we’re thinking about moving back,” she says. “But it’s hard to find a job over there, too.”

Selling, to avoid moving costs

At the bottom of another bulletin board in the mail room sits a spreadsheet, with a carefully cut strip of detachable phone numbers.

“For Sale Now in November,” it says. “I purchased these only two months ago locally ... Great bargains; save on retail and no taxes!!!”

The flier is signed by Jim, and the items are neatly lined up in columns, complete with the original purchase price: A 32-inch flat screen TV in its original box with “a nice contemporary stand” for $325 ($600 retail for both); a Sealy Posturepedic queen-size mattress for $575 ($820.45 retail).

Jim explains in a phone call that he’s considering another job elsewhere. He insists it’s cheaper to sell his belongings than to move them.

A notice posted on a community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex located in Henderson.

A notice posted on a community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex located in Henderson.

Belongings on the block

A handwritten flier, in the lower right-hand corner, proclaims with a bold marker: “NEED CASH. SELLING EVERYTHING.” There are bedroom, living room and kitchen sets, stereo speakers, a framed mirror, badminton and croquet sets, a picnic basket and “stuff.” Stapled photos display the individual merchandise, with price tags.

Next to the flier, the Camden-sponsored merchant fair seems cruel competition. A corporate notice says a host of businesses, including Pampered Chef, Cookie Lee Jewelry and Avon, will be on campus for the holiday season. “Last Minute Shop Til You Drop.”

A notice posted on a community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex located in Henderson.

A notice posted on a community bulletin board in the Camden Fairways, an apartment complex located in Henderson.

Reselling tag-sale wares

A few fliers to the right, a computer-printed note screams: “Desperation Sale! Priced to Move! Items Must Be Sold Immediately!”

Gordon Lankenau isn’t as desperate as the flier would have you believe, though. A music teacher with the Clark County School District, he’s moving to the northwest valley to be closer to his school. He and his fiancee want to unload the many items they’ve collected from garage sales over the years, everything from an “immaculate” violin ($100) to a bridal petticoat ($10) to their “two lovers on a swing” figurine ($10).

The couple’s travels around the valley have given them a front-row seat to the tattered economy.

“We’ve seen people in tough times,” Lankenau says. “Our heart goes out to them and you want to help them any way you can. You feel like you’re not wasting your money buying dollar things and you’ve helped them out in the process.”

Some, he says, have a sale every weekend. Others need to clear out quickly because they’ve lost a job and can’t make rent.

There are, in fact, bulletin boards all across the valley telling the same story.

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