Check Out Burger King missing Wall Street views but saying sales grew 12 percent worldwide, with sales at restaurants open at least a year up 3 percent in the United States and Canada.

Lower-cost fast-food chains have benefited in the economic downturn, while higher-priced sit-down restaurant chains like Applebee’s and Chili’s Grill & Bar have been hit particularly hard, as consumers slash discretionary spending to adjust to falling home prices, a credit crunch and higher food and fuel costs.

The home of the Whopper hamburger has been sprucing up aging restaurants, extending hours and adding value menu items to better compete with rivals like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC.

Burger King maintained its forecast of opening 350 to 400 new restaurants next year, a sign it is hopeful hungry people in a hurry will continue to order items like the 11,500-store chain’s flame-broiled burgers, Big Fish sandwich and newer offerings like its Angus beef burger.

Also in the basket:

L’Oreal shares fall on sales warning (Reuters)

Puma lifts ‘08 sales outlook, mum on profit (Reuters)

Who shrank the economy? Food prices dent U.S. growth (Reuters)

(Photo/Reuters)

(Added details on restaurant chains)

Check Out the sinking economy creeping into the lives of some of the most resilient shoppers — teenagers, whose need for fashion and fun often trandscends economic downturns.

Rising prices are forcing teens to cut back spending as their parents face mounting gas and food costs, declining home values and a credit crunch, according to a WSL Strategic Retail survey. 

“Clearly we have reached the final frontier of cost cutting. It doesn’t bode well for holiday 2008 when teens, the most demanding of our shopping citizens, are cutting back,” said WSL’s Chief Executive Wendy Liebmann.

Like their parents, teens are paring spending, with 35 percent buying less expensive clothing brands; 28 percent buying less expensive hair care and shaving products; 20 percent cutting back on salon manicures and haircuts; and 19 percent signing up for fewer sports and lessons, according to the survey.

Only one in 10 teens said they had more to spend for back-to-school 2008. That’s down sharply from 2007, when 40 percent said they had bigger shopping budgets.  

Contrast that with the attitude of the super-wealthy, who remain confident shoppers. An Elite Traveler consumer spending survey found that families worth more than $30 million planned to spend the same or more as 2007.
    
Also in the basket: 

U.S. clothing chains falter as shoppers clamp down (Reuters)

Victoria’s New Place (NY Post)

Designer Divorce: Liz Clairborne, Narciso Rodriguez are seperates (NY Post)

(Photo/Reuters)
     
 
 

Shoppers hunting for consumer electronics are the most likely to visit both brick-and-mortar stores and the Internet while deciding which product to buy, according to a new study.

The IBM Global Business Services study of consumers in both the United States and United Kingdom found that multi-channel shoppers, or people who regularly participate in more than one method of shopping, are usually looking for apparel, accessories, footwear, home improvement items and appliances, in addition to electronics.

The study found that more than 75 percent of multi-channel shoppers tend to research products online and then visit a store to make a purchase. Around 7 percent went from visiting a store to purchasing online, and 3 percent moved from online browsing to ordering through a call center. 

The poll of 4,300 people has a error margin of plus or minus 1.54 percent.

(Photo/Reuters)