Crash Survival Zone

Another U.S. retail icon falls victim to the recession
Struggling retailer Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc., which began as a Seattle fishing shop, later outfitted the first American to climb Mt. Everest and made thousands of newfangled down jackets and sleeping bags for the military during World War II, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday.

Still [...]

As it once sucked the life out of Main Street, the suburban mall is being reconsidered – or torn down – as towns move back to the concept of a multiuse town center.
snip
For at least a decade, Americans have been regularly reminded that the indoor mall was hurtling toward obscurity. The causes were manifold: the [...]

Malls, those ubiquitous shopping meccas that sprang up in the 1950s, are dwindling in number, with many struggling properties reduced to largely vacant shells.

snip

With their maze of walkways and fast-food courts, malls have long been an iconic, if sometimes unsightly, presence in the American retail landscape. A few were made famous by their sheer size, [...]

In this groundbreaking 2008 book Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, Danish brand consultant Martin Lindstrom showed how neurology, as much as economics, drives consumer behavior. One of TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World, Lindstrom talks to TIME’s Sean Gregory, during a business trip in Thailand, about what’s buzzing around our [...]

A drop in sales for the second straight month raises questions about the strength of recovery in consumer spending
Retail sales fell in April, the second straight month of declines. The news dashes hopes that the falloff in consumer spending has bottomed out as recession-battered shoppers remain reluctant to open their wallets. The seasonally adjusted decline [...]

Retailers Respond To Shopping Habits Forged in Recession
The nation’s retailers have begun to embrace the new cost-conscious consumer, developing products they can sell at lower prices without driving themselves out of business in the post-splurge era.

Starbucks dropped the price of a medium iced coffee last week to just under $2. American Eagle cut out the [...]

By Richard Florida

The Pew Research Center recently asked a sample of Americans what they consider to be life’s necessities. Here’s a chart with the key results.

Felix Salmon reacts:

Felix Salmon reacts:
I’m quite surprised that the landline phone is still considered more of a necessity than a cellphone — I can’t imagine that’s going to continue to [...]

Wal-Mart has a unique vantage point for tracking the recession. How it’s playing in the grocery aisles.

…more…

Newsweek

Demo Is Cutting Back on Food and Excursions, Still Spending on DVDs and Music in Recession
In a recession, one group can usually be counted on to keep spending: teens. Their parents often pick up the tab for necessities, leaving them free to spend the income they earn from part-time jobs and birthday money from grandma [...]

Many economists expect the U.S. recession to end in the second half of this year, but companies catering to consumers showed on Wednesday that the prolonged downturn and rising unemployment are taking a toll on business in the near term.

Capital One Financial Corp, a leading issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards, said U.S. credit [...]