STATE OF THE INDUSTRY ON THE OFFENSIVE

Credit will be key to improving the numbers in 2002. Markens elaborates: "If you don't take some risk in credit, then you won't sell—especially in this economy. Right now, it's a tight rope between letting people have enough credit to make purchases, but not so much that if their own business doesn't do well they end up stiffing you for more than you can handle. Just be mindful of credit inventory," he says.