Check Out unemployment’s strain on consumers’ wallets.

This is not what retailers want to hear on the day before Christmas, but evidence continues to mount that consumers are cutting back spending.

The U.S. Commerce Department said consumer spending contracted 0.6 percent in November, the fifth-straight monthly fall. Incomes shrank 0.2 percent. A separate report showed initial claims for jobless benefits last week reached the highest level in 26 years.

Today, retailers are making a final push to lure last-minute gift hunters but surveys indicate the steep discounts are not inspiring consumers to spend. This year’s U.S. holiday shopping season could be the worst in up to 40 years.

Are you spending more or less this holiday season? Let us know.

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‘Heritage cocktails’ make a comeback

Cadbury sells drinks unit

More U.S. store closings to come

(Photo: Reuters)

Check out the holiday cheer coming from Hasbro’s CEO.
 
Remember when everyone said luxury stocks were more immune to a recession? That was before the housing slump, the credit crisis and the meltdown on Wall Street. Now the Dow Jones Luxury Index is down 52 percent from a year ago.
 
Remember when food companies said they were a little less vulnerable to an economic downturn because people still have to eat? Well, people still need to eat, but lower-priced store brands have been taking market share and food shares, as demonstrated by the Standard & Poor’s Packaged Foods index falling 11 percent in the past three weeks.
 
Well, now the next test case might be the idea that people will still keep spending on toys for their children during Christmas.

“We still believe that Christmas will come for consumers and retailers this year and our retailers have agreed that toys and games are more recession resistant than other discretionary spending categories,” Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said during a conference call with analysts.
 
Hasbro beat analysts quarterly profit estimates, while higher costs caused Mattel to miss.
 
But what kind of Christmas will it be? Christmas came for the Cratchits in “A Christmas Carol,” but while it was full of good feeling and cheer, it was a tad light on presents, at least before Scrooge had his epiphany.
 
Will Christmas for toymakers be commercial, or Dickensian?
 
Also in the basket:
 
U.N. agency says crisis to cost 20 million jobs
 
Circuit City weighs broad cuts (WSJ, subscription required)
 
Adrenalina bids for PacSun (WWD, subscription required)

 (Reuters photo)

Check out the stocks bouncing back.
 
The Dow is up more than 4 percent. Retail stocks are up nearly as much.
 
Governments are pouring money in to help bail out banks, the market is reacting favorably and all is right with the world, right?
 
Well, probably not. Reuters columnist James Saft argues that the bubble in the economy was not just in real estate, but also in consumption.
 
The bursting of that consumption bubble is already hurting retailers, of course.  Just look at last week’s sales numbers.
 
The New York Times also points out that the one reliable bastion of conspicuous consumption, teenagers, is also having to pull back on spending.
 
As we all embrace the simple life, the problems for retail could well continue. After all, there weren’t a lot of Hollister jeans and big screen TVs on Walden Pond.
 
Also in the basket:
 
Sears names GE executive as CFO elect
 
Sharper Image focuses on expanding globally (N.Y. Post)

Upon entering Wal-Mart Stores annual shareholder meeting, an observer might be forgiven for thinking they had just walked into a lively, national political convention.

Patriotic red and blue buntings covered the 16,000-seat arena at the University of Arkansas, the music hardly stopped and the crowd was treated to a constrant stream of well-tuned public relations bullet points — in this case, sustainability, community relations and saving shoppers money.

Associates — the word the world’s largest retailer uses to describe its 2 million employees – whooped and hollered at every chance, especially whenever an executive uttered the word “proud.”

(An associate later told Reuters that staff had been told to react whenever they heard that word — even when it meant interrupting the speaker, presumably.)

“We’re just having fun!” said Mike Miller of Scott Depot, West Virginia, whose group of fellow Sam’s Club associates donned funny hats with stars and stripes, reminiscent of a patriotic Dr. Seuss character.

Large balloons emblazoned with the company slogan “Save People Money So They Can Live Better” bounced back and forth between the bleachers, and enthusiastic associates waved flags.

Even Master of Ceremonies Queen Latifah seemed moved by the euphoria. After a number in which singers sang “One World” as representatives from different countries took to the stage in a mini-U.N, the performer beamed and sighed: “One world — a Wal-Mart world.”

The associates’ enthusiasm waned somewhat during presentations by the companies’ financial mucky-mucks — shares up 26 percent since January, ho hum, etc — but revived somewhat with a performance by Dreamgirls’ Jennifer Hudson (picture at right).

She sang, fittingly, “And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going.”

Just like Wal-Mart. – Reporting by Alexandria Sage

(Reuters photos)

Check out sluggish sales and high gasoline prices.
 
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, chain-store sales were flat in the week ending May 24, compared with a week earlier, and were up only 1.5 percent year-over-year.
 
“Consumers remain cautious in their discretionary spending as a result of the record high gasoline prices,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC chief economist.
 
Gas costs cutting into consumer discretionary spending isn’t a new thought. But ICSC takes a stab at quantifying the effect, estimating that current gas prices — well over $4 a gallon in some places — are cutting demand at chain stores by nearly 1 percentage point.
 
Niemira also said a consumer tax rebate tracking survey is showing a “low propensity” to spend the recent tax rebate checks. That stimulus package might not be so stimulating.
 
Some retailers have been able to manage through the weakness. American Eagle Outfitters, for example, used cost-cutting and inventory reductions to post better-than-expected first quarter profit on Wednesday.
 
Others have have had more difficulty. Chico’s posted a sharp drop in quarterly profit, the latest example of weakness in  the women’s apparel sector.
 
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Lululemon’s incoming CEO advocates measured mantra (WWD)
 
Polo Ralph Lauren profit tops view; shares jump
 
Dollar Tree profit rises more than 14 percent
 
Coca-Cola Enterprises sees 2nd-qtr profit down
 
For Coors Light, a Night Out That Begins on MySpace (N.Y. Times)

 (Photo: Reuters)