There's an old expression about money burning a hole in your pocket. For free spending Americans, there may be a little of that going around as those that have hunkered down find themselves a little bored with the whole austerity thing and there's so much stuff, usually at discount, just waiting to be bought.
As a Time article points out, the most recent consumer confidence numbers have been good; economists see at end to the recession at hand, and (this one from us) there are plenty of good deals to be had in outlets from dollar stores all the way up to luxury retailers.
The same article points to WSL Strategic Retail's latest How America Shops report, which showed that fewer consumers are cutting back on 19 of the 32 categories it covers. Last year, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were cutting back on frozen food. In the latest report, that number fell to 34 percent.
"People have done an awful lot of cutting back in the last 18 months," Wendy Liebmann, CEO of WSL Strategic Retail, told Time. "There's not much more they can do. They've figured that it's not the end of the world here, and there are places where you can open up your wallets."
Consumers are looking to get out and have a little fun, said Ms. Liebmann. "Consumers are exhausted, and they need a little break. They are starting to come out of their little burrows, saying, 'Please, please, can I have a night out?'"
Discussion Questions: Do you see evidence that consumers are getting tired of cutting back and are looking, in varying degrees, to open up the purse strings a little bit? Where do you see opportunities for retailers at this time?