consumer news stories on Newser

Americans Buy $1.2T Worth of Stuff They Don’t Need

Luke Kelly-Clyne — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:09:24 CDT

Ever wonder how much Americans spend on non-essential goodies such as jewelry, yachts, booze, and even candy? A lot, as in $1.2 trillion, or about 11% of total consumer spending, reports the Wall Street Journal . The percentage is up from 9.3% a decade ago and 4% in 1959,...

Reasons to Bet Against a Double-Dip Recession

Polly Davis Doig — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:34:00 CDT

Fears of a double-dip recession is running high, but economic data suggest that they are unfounded. Writing in the Wall Street Journal , Milton Ezrati of the money management firm Lord Abbett explains: The consumer is regaining strength: A 1.4% decline in retail sales for May gave rise to double-dip...

Delta Loses Teen's Dog

Kevin Spak — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:50:41 CDT

Don't you hate it when the airline loses your luggage? Now imagine how angry you'd be if that luggage was your pet. That's Josiah Allen's situation. The 19-year-old recently adopted a stray dog in Mexico, then tried to fly home to Canada with him. But when he landed, he discovered...

Your Credit Card Is Spying on You

Kevin Spak — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 06:38:28 CDT

Visa knows if you’re going to get a divorce. It knows that you just moved and, most importantly, it knows if you’re going to miss a payment—maybe before you do. Credit card companies have developed eerily accurate models for predicting consumer behavior based on the things they buy, the...

Now Driving Innovation in India: the Poor

Harry Kimball — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:04:50 CDT

Indian engineers once did little but cater to Western companies, while consumers at home made do with hand-me-down products from the developed world. That is changing in a big way as foreign economies crater and the 1.1 billion consumers of the subcontinent reveal a taste for, well, consuming. And...

Frugal Mainers Easily Weather Economic Storm

Harry Kimball — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:13:00 CDT

A long history of sparse employment and hardships of all stripes has built a culture of frugality that leaves Maine perfectly suited to the current recession, the Boston Globe reports. “Everybody now is into shopping thrift shops, but in most of Maine, people never stopped,” a banker says. “It’s ingrained...

Crocs Scramble to Stay Afloat

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 04:03:17 CDT

The company that makes the once-ubiquitous, quirky Croc shoes is about to go belly up, experts fear. The Colorado firm lost $18.5 million last year, has a warehouse full of unwanted shoes and just weeks to pay off its debt. Blame it on the economy and fickle consumers. "The...

Experts Fret as Americans Squirrel Away Income

Wesley Oliver — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:46:13 CDT

Even after the economy rebounds, the US will likely remain a nation of penny pinchers—and that has economists worried, the New York Times reports. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of the country’s GDP, but Americans, fretting over job security and losses in the housing and stock sectors, are squirreling...

Hasbro, Discovery Join to Launch Kids Channel

Nick McMaster — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:56:31 CDT

Hasbro and Discovery have struck a deal to revitalize the flagging Discovery Kids Network, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hasbro, manufacturer of Transformers and GI Joe, will buy a 50% stake in Discovery Kids for $300 million. The company plans to emphasize merchandise based on programming on the network, which...