It's a symptom of the dying middle class.
Yep just another sign that we are entering a deflationary depression. Metro Atlanta is nothing but empty strip shopping centers. Empty buildings everywhere.
People have no money to spend. We see restaurants going out all the time.
That’s what 95 million people out of work will do for you.
I and others have noticed the small family run local grocery stores are frequently out of stock on items. Even when I pull all of the stock for an item, it’s not restocked for well over a week.
Re out-of-sync seasons, received an email from a company that sells snow globes and they had their remaining Christmas stock available at 60% off with free shipping through January 31. I have a couple of clients that collect them so was glad to see these available at a huge savings so ordered two which I will keep until Christmas 2016. We used to only buy clothes which were on sale at the end of a season but don’t even do that any more.
You’re right about the must have. Unless I desperately need a replacement for something in the office or house that is broken, I don’t buy it. Two items on February’s list has two items which I put into that category - underwear and a toilet seat!