Signing and profit-sharing bonuses for hourly workers at Detroit's Big Three will give autoworkers a nice wad of cash in time for the holidays, pumping an estimated $200 million into the Michigan economy starting next month.
Metro Detroit businesses say they expect a much-needed boost in sales — and some stores already report an uptick in spending.
At Bill & Rod's Appliance in Livonia, autoworkers already are coming in for new appliances, boosting sales by 60percent over last September and prompting the store to hire four full-time salespeople, noted sales manager Joseph Legato.
"We had to expand the number of employees just to keep up with demand," Legato said. The spending, though, is decidedly practical — refrigerators, washer and dryers, not game systems and high-def televisions, he adds. "I think that a lot of people have been holding out. They're replacing appliances that are 20 or 30 years old now, and those things are giving up the ghost."
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