Dec. 28--LAS CRUCES -- In 2008 southern New Mexico learned along with the rest of the nation that the country officially was in a recession.

The Las Cruces real estate market, once red hot, took a significant step backward. A variety of businesses closed their doors and everyone tried to cope with sky-high gas prices.

But not all the news was negative. The county's unemployment rate stayed relatively low, Ernest Health held a grand opening for a new hospital in Las Cruces and several companies moved into facilities in Santa Teresa.

Those and others make the list of top business stories for 2008:

Out of business, changing names

For a variety of reasons, many of them linked to the economy, several businesses filed for bankruptcy, changed owners, closed their doors or cut staff in 2008.

A drop in spending by consumers impacted many companies, said Anthony Popp, head of the Department of Economics at New Mexico State University.

"There's a downturn and people are kind of stepping back because there's not as much money," he said.

Earlier this month, Rea Magnet Wire Co. announced it would suspend production at its 200,000-square-foot Las Cruces plant in the West Mesa Industrial Park and lay off the 75 workers.

In November, Shoe Pavilion at the Mesilla Valley Mall closed just a year after it

opened. In July, Bennigan's restaurant filed for bankruptcy and closed its corporate stores across the country. The Las Cruces location reopened as a different eatery, known as Dublin's Street Pub, with local owners.

Open for more than 20 years, Dairy Queen at 1290 S. Valley Drive closed its doors in August -- although owner Mike Apodaca said it was not due to lack of sales -- and the property was sold. In its place, a Murphy USA gas station was built.

Corral West Ranchwear at the Mesilla Valley Mall became a Boot Barn in November after its parent company filed for bankruptcy and sold some locations to Boot Barn Holding Corp.

In April, Denver-based Frontier Airlines filed for bankruptcy, and announced in July that it would cut 37 jobs at its Las Cruces customer service center.

Home sales

Though the final numbers for 2008 are yet available, the handwriting has been on the wall: The real estate boom came to a halt this year. Through the end of November, 486 fewer homes had sold in Las Cruces compared to the same time period in 2007. When compared to 2006, there were 845 fewer sales recorded.

The dollar volume of homes sold through the first 11 months of 2008 was down more than $100 million compared to 2007, according to figures provided by Steinborn Inc. Real Estate's research department.