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In a dusty corner window of Russ Noble's Roskill Sheetmetal Works there's a plastic card advertising "youth wanted".
The sign has been sitting in full view of passers-by for years - through good economic times and bad.
Mr Noble knows things are as tight as ever at the moment, with the 10-staff business "just barely covering costs".
The company, which makes air-conditioning vents for the construction industry, normally spends about $48,000 a month on steel. Last month it spent $6000.
While he realises he "could be doing with dropping a couple" of staff, Mr Noble will be hanging on to his workers for now - and keeping the sign in the window.
If someone has the gumption to see the sign and come in looking for work, then that person deserves a try-out, he says.
Mr Noble's attitude is typical of many businesses operating along the 4.2km stretch of Dominion Rd that runs between Eden Terrace and Mt Roskill. The road's collection of restaurants, second-hand stores and light industry is about as far from Wall St as you can get.
Most shopkeepers spoken to by the Weekend Herald reported some kind of downturn, though the extent of their troubles varied widely.
Sue Cooper of Pets-R-Us, in Balmoral, described business as having been "really, really quiet for about a year", with people holding off buying animals - or paying for top-of-the-line pet foods - while things were in a slump.
Suzanne Davison of nearby ADO Appliances claimed a slump in sales of second-hand whiteware was being more than offset by a rise in rental customers.
Mt Roskill pizza maker Ari Georgaros had a simple reason why he would be staying with his business, despite a 20 per cent downturn and hefty increases in dairy prices.
"To be honest, I am not that much qualified for other things ... [but] people, they like to come see me. I like to think people come to see me and support me."
Colin Wigg believes older businesses are better placed to survive than younger competition.
His shoe repair business - Col's Cobble Shoppe - has been a Dominion Rd fixture for 34 years, and he is not taking fright at the financial fallout. "I think people just carry on regardless. People are never going to stop spending."
