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Even the island's rich are feeling the economic pinch

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Keeping up with the Joneses can get expensive, especially in the better-heeled parts of Hilton Head Island. But even the Joneses, it seems, are feeling the pinch of hard economic times.

From gourmet foods to boats to private airplanes, local businesses that cater to those at the top of the economic ladder are seeing sales shrink in an anemic national economy.

"Consumers across the board are shifting down a bit about where they're shopping and what they're buying," said Don Schunk, research economist at Coastal Carolina University in Conway. "Even the wealthiest people are reining in spending."

The stock market's decline is causing the most trouble for those who depend on income from dividends and other investments, according to the S.C. Board of Economic Advisors.

Bill Bollin's gourmet catering company, for instance, has served company parties and holiday functions on the island for 35 years. Business always was steady, until right around September.

"It's like we hit a brick wall," said Bollin, owner of Ellie & Bill's Catering. The company went from serving beef tenderloin at 100-person events to cooking pork for 60-person affairs. Customers, he said, still hold parties, but they're looking to cut costs.

"To keep a small business going in this day and age is harder than ever," Bollin said. "You have to do a lot more business to keep going."

Some sellers of high-end merchandise prepared for the downturn.

Debbie Berlinger, owner of Forsythe Jewelers in Sea Pines Center who acknowledges selling "something nobody needs," hired a consultant and spent part of the last two years creating a battle plan. The strategy: stock less gold and more sterling silver, focus on selling more smaller items and hold in-store promotions to keep customers interested. Berlinger expects her sales numbers won't beat the previous year's for the first time in four years, though her profits will probably be up since she reduced other expenses.

Evenjet-setters aren't jet-setting as much.

Business has been down 7 percent at Signature Flight Support, the company that sells fuel and provides other services for general aviation and charter pilots at the Hilton Head Island Airport, general manager Mike Bennett said.

Jet fuel alone shot up 51 cents over a five-week period recently, Bennett said. A jump like that leads people to buy smaller planes or take fewer trips, he said.

"It definitely affects some of the smaller guys," he said. "That money comes directly out of their pocket."

The same thing is happening on the waterways.

Business began slowing down in recent years and now has dropped by as much as 20 percent, said Larry Jordan, co-owner of Lighthouse Yacht Sales in Palmetto Bay Marina, which brokers boat sales. Some owners are frustrated and the prices on a lot of used boats are coming down, he said.

"It's just a matter of supply and demand. There's not a lot of people looking to buy them," he said. "There are people that have held back from buying a boat just because of the economic uncertainty of the times."

Economists on Friday reported consumer confidence dipped to a 28-year low. Even so, there's an echelon of wealthy area residents that might be above the fray of the economic turmoil.

"There's still plenty of people that are immune to it," said Bollin, the caterer. "These people are rich because that's how they got that way: by being cheap."

Berlinger, of Forsythe Jewelers, isn't getting rid of all the super-luxury items in the store.

"The rich are still rich in this economy," she said. "Although, we're so tied into the stock market, that if the rich don't feel rich, our sales will go down."

The (Columbia) State contributed to this story.

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