Anecdotal reports began to surface before the "official" beginning of the Great Recession in December 2007 that wealthy Americans were dialing back on their conspicuously consuming ways for reasons including not wanting to laud their own success in front of family, friends and others who had fallen on more difficult times.
By now, terms such as the "new normal" have become part of the retail lexicon and, while reports that "frugal fatigue" has set-in on several occasions, there has always seemed to be some "on the other hand" statistic to balance news both bad and good.
With all of the above as a backdrop comes an Associated Press piece saying that wealthy American parents are now their dressing toddlers as though being fashionable is somehow a requirement for their continued success. Forget about Target's cheap chic, these parents are throwing down big bucks in stores such as Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Bergdorf, according to the report, recently expanded its kidswear department by a third to make room for a growing number of upscale designers such as Gucci, with new lines intended for the toddler set.
"We're definitely growing," Andrew Mandell, vice president and divisional merchandise manager of home and children's wear at Bergdorf Goodman, told the AP. "This is a whole new realm. And when you have our customers so fashion forward, they eat this up."
- Yearly Job Loss Worst Since 1945 - The Wall Street Journal
- Employment, Hours, and Earnings from the Current Employment Statistics survey (National) - Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Secret Shopping Takes On a New Meaning - RetailWire
- Affluent Sick and Tired of Frugal Living - RetailWire
- Rich toddlers draw fashion designers' eyes - The Associated Press/USA Today