Marketers Hit Hard by Credit Crisis

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With banks in bunker mode and hoarding cash, marketers are beginning to feel the effects of credit drying up. Not only is McDonalds' coffee rollout threatened as franchisees scramble for funding to outfit stores, but General Motor Corp.'s largest dealership folded. Retailers are having a tough time raising money for much-needed holiday pushes and store openings. And deals are being hit hard on both ends of the price spectrum: Questions are being raised whether financing for InBev's $52 billion buyout of Anheuser-Busch will hold up, and $100 million consumer-products marketer Method is said to have taken itself off the market for want of a suitable price.