Consumers are ready to "splurge" this holiday season

Discussion in 'Economics' started by turkeyneck, Nov 29, 2010.

  1. Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Barb Capa was at Saks Inc.’s flagship store in New York feeling flush and ready to buy.

    “I just feel like spending more because of an increase in my salary,” the 22-year-old nurse from New York said yesterday. In 2009 Capa spent $1,000 during the holiday season. This year she is ready to “splurge” and drop five times as much on designer bags, clothes and shoes.

    She’s not the only one. The average shopper spent 6.4 percent more than last year over the holiday weekend, the National Retail Federation said yesterday. Customers bought more non-essentials like jewelry and toys, signaling that the U.S. economy, propelled by consumer spending, is regaining strength.

    “Consumers are more comfortable spending again, and that trend has held up,” Maggie Taylor, a vice president at Moody’s Investors Service in New York, said yesterday. “I don’t think people are as worried about losing their jobs anymore.”

    http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=aI5miA8oi7Ic