New Topic- Shopping Much?

With 2008 being such a disastrous year for retail, all hopes were on a recovery for 2009- especially the holiday period. That period between Thanksgiving and the new year can help a company's sales significantly and considering January is usually a retail disaster every year, a much needed boost to the bottom line for the entire year.

The anticipation was high and the figures, well...not so much. All reports started hopeful but aside from some busier than usual internet shopping in the days after Thanksgiving the end result was but a smidge higher than last year.On top of that, stores are desperately trying to wean consumers off the 2008 sales habit they had created with high inventories and low sales- a "fire sale" mentality.

In addition to the high rate of unemployment and the corresponding smaller household budgets for most, articles stated that consumers were happier with spending money on "experiences" rather than goods.

Read the NYT article about the retail macro-climate


2010 seems designated to be a year of change for consumer habits:

Are you looking to spend on experiences rather than goods?
What makes you want to spend right now?
Will the caution of personal shopping budgets continue or will the purse strings loosen later in the year?
Are we shaping the younger generation's attitude in any particular direction as has been the case in the past after periods of abundance or hardship? If so, how will we see it?

Discuss.