I plan to "pull the trigger" on this baby before I can't:
Posted on 12/25/2012 4:22:09 PM PST by Steelers6
The annual holiday shop-a-thon drew to a muted close for many retailers, according to preliminary data, reflecting what some experts said was the slowest growth in spending since the 2008 recession.
For the eight weeks from Oct. 28 through Christmas Eve, retail sales for the holidays rose just 0.7% from the year before, according to MasterCard Inc.'s SpendingPulse unit.
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A man with shopping bags sleeps in Macy's in New York on Monday. . After falling 5.5% in 2008, holiday sales rebounded strongly in 2009 and 2010, and rose about 2% last year, according to the company's data, which are based on sales activity in the MasterCard payments network and estimates for all other forms of payment, including cash and checks. The figures exclude restaurants and sales of automobiles, groceries and gasoline.
This year, "it's a lost season," said Michael McNamara, Spending Pulse's vice president of research and analysis. "Sales and volume are about the same as last year, but the growth was marginal."
He and other analysts said a steep sales decline in the mid-Atlantic states that were walloped by superstorm Sandy dragged down the overall tally.
Retail consulting firm Customer Growth Partners said 2012 looks like the worst holiday-shopping season since 2009. Sales rose roughly 2.8%, after a 5.8% jump in 2011, according to its president, Craig Johnson.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Probably a combination of high ‘real’ unemployment, maxed out credit cards for most folks, and deleveraging by others. A pretty wicked combination for our “service based” economy. Of course, I’m no economist, and didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I may have no idea what I’m talking about.
Unavoidable cost hits, from groceries to electricity to gas to insurance, both health and property, made for a hit on Christmas spending for many in my acquaintance, myself included. I don’t carry any credit card debt and refuse to carry it, learned that lesson long ago. Reserves weren’t built up for such spending via savings over the course of the year as they have been in years past. This was due to increased overhead with little remaining to cut, so savings declined. I may have spent $400 this year total. Not too many years ago I would have easily spent four times as much.
When the local news announced this story and said sales were up .7% above last year, everyone here hollered it wouldn’t be that high if it weren’t for the gun sales.
Chewing gum sales?
Made in America ?? Guns. Ammo. And industry is BOOMING. . .
You seem to be the only one here really worked up about the issue. A party of one isn't much of a party.
Cut the BS. If the thread is about excessive government spending, high rates of taxation or regulation, or even a company moving from California to Texas, your response is the same, “bring back jobs.” As if all the rest would be ok as long as we do what you say. Gimme a break.
Well I then seem to be the only one, likewise, who has noticed we lost the last election fair and square.
Running a candidate who should have won.
We are losing our majority, because we are eliminating jobs.
I agree not enough seem yet motivated to do something about that.
That is why I mention it.
The next election is still a long ways off. But we need to make some changes.
Just saying.
And the “changes” you propose, but are unwilling to discuss (for obvious reasons) are raising taxes.
I do not know how we fix it, other than we need to reverse the export of jobs.
Sending ever more jobs elsewhere, ever more. Is a long-term policy of destruction. Destruction of America.
We need jobs here.
I admit I am fuzzy on how we do that. I am abundantly clear though, that we need to.
Ha, they think THIS is weak? Just wait until January, February ...people will be eating beans and using the rest to pay off debts, or to just merely subsist.
I plan to "pull the trigger" on this baby before I can't:
We gave gas cards to our grandchildren, and they appreciated them. It’s a struggle to commute to your job that pays $10/hr. when gas is $3.60/gal. And of course, the greedy piggish government extracts withholding and SS taxes from those meager pay checks first, leaving only the crumbs to the young workers.
We have a lousy future in this country.
We weren’t going to spend anything but the kiddos had two needs. One will be needing tires soon so told her to consider that Christmas. The other needed some sweatshirts and thankfully Walgreens had them for $1.50 each. Dinner was what was on hand from the garden and the freezer. As it is, I’m going to have to pull the property taxes that are due now out my ear.
I buy a lot of gifts in the grocery store. I look for bargains like two-for-one sales. Herr’s Pretzels had a box of chocoloate-covered pretzels in a decorative Christmas box. Packages of Christmas herbal teas. Mint chocolate cakes in boxes that look expensive but are reasonably-priced. Ten for ten dollars boxes of Nestle’s hot cocoa packages. Make your own gift packages - stuff a gift bag.
I buy a lot of gifts in the grocery store. I look for bargains like two-for-one sales. Herr’s Pretzels had a box of chocoloate-covered pretzels in a decorative Christmas box. Packages of Christmas herbal teas. Mint chocolate cakes in boxes that look expensive but are reasonably-priced. Ten for ten dollars boxes of Nestle’s hot cocoa packages. Make your own gift packages - stuff a gift bag.
In our family we just drew lots and everyone got a gift for the person who's name they drew. While the economy is down we just focused on more important aspects of the holiday.
Sorry, out of stock!
Rats.
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