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Consumers Are Quickly Trading Down

Switch to cheaper goods is broadest since early '80s

By Clay Dillow,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 11, 2008 12:26 PM CDT
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(Newser) – As fuel prices and home foreclosures steadily rise, Americans are trading down in everything from automobiles to their lunch options. That's not unusual in an economic downturn, but the speed with which it's happening is, the Wall Street Journal reports. And the flight to the affordable and generic is affecting the broadest array of goods since the recession of the early 1980s.

Visits to department stores are down 6%, while Family Dollar Stores, Wal-Mart and other discount chains saw a 6% jump in sales last month alone. Even the brown-bag lunch is experiencing a renaissance. "There has been a major shift in thinking by shoppers," says a retailing analyst. "Consumers are moving away from availability, to affordability."

A customer checks out at WalMart Stores Inc. in Rogers, Arkansas, on Thursday, June 5, 2008.
A customer checks out at WalMart Stores Inc. in Rogers, Arkansas, on Thursday, June 5, 2008.   (AP Photo/April L. Brown)
An unidentified shopper examines sale items at a Wal-Mart store in Santa Fe Springs, Calif..
An unidentified shopper examines sale items at a Wal-Mart store in Santa Fe Springs, Calif..   (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
As pump prices climb, smaller, more economical foreign cars are becoming more popular among American consumers who are trading in their trucks and SUVs.
As pump prices climb, smaller, more economical foreign cars are becoming more popular among American consumers who are trading in their trucks and SUVs.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll, file)
Discount retailer Dollar General is seeing a boom in sales as consumers turn to cheaper goods in the face of economic uncertainty.
Discount retailer Dollar General is seeing a boom in sales as consumers turn to cheaper goods in the face of economic uncertainty.   (AP Photo)
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A beacon in the gloom: discount stores
Forbes

In tough times, some see bargain opportunities
The Birmingham Post

 
consumer goods • gas prices • consumer prices • retail stores • discounts • weak dollar • subprime crisis • weakening economy • Walmart

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