Thanksgiving Is Coming To Town
The photo at right is called “Thanksgiving is many circles of love”. According to wikipedia, Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks for the things that one has at the conclusion of the harvest season. Though, I am not a farmer, it is definitely a good time for me to do some clean-up work near the end of the year, such as donation. Giving always makes people feel good. Especially, by doing that, I reduce my tax payment and keep my small room cleaner.
Other than turkey dinner, Thanksgiving normally provides the best opportunities along the year for people to buy goods in big bargain. This time, retailers started much earlier and used deeper discounts to attract customers. There were very long lines. For example, Fry’s was crazy. A very long walk-in line in the morning followed by a very long check-out line late Friday. Business seems to be super good. No wonder, stock market rallied.
The reality could be more complicated. I belong to the demographic group that only buy bargain goods in holiday seasons. My spending might still help department stores since margin for clothing is very high. My expenditure doesn’t help electronic stores at all. So, I watched TV to understand the big picture. One important trend is that women and young adults become tech-savvy. As the major force behind consumer spending, they are more likely to spend on high-tech gadgets. On the negative side, there are people capping their spending due to either high gas price or bad real estate situations. There are people who feel that they don’t need anything, which matches what I have suspected earlier. Parents could spend less on toys due to recently recalls. People might return what they’ve bought in the Black Friday madness. By mid next week, we will see where we are in consumer spending.
