COVID-19

WASHINGTON — A report released Thursday by Bloomberg said that U.S. consumer confidence held last week at the second-lowest level of 2011 as the highest number of households in three years said it was a bad time to spend.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was minus 49.3 in the period to Sept. 11, near the 2011 low of minus 49.4 reached in May. The buying climate gauge slumped to the lowest level since October 2008.

According to the report, the majority — 9-out-of-10 — of Americans polled had a negative view on the economy.


Somewhere along the road back from Boston, DSN publisher Wayne Bennett and I looked at each other and realized that the previous 24 hours or so had been some of the most productive time we had enjoyed at a trade show in quite a while. To be honest, that’s not exactly what we had expected when we headed to the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Pharmacy and Technology Conference a day earlier. Hurricane Irene — which had already dampened our travel plans — also had dampened our expectations.


MINNEAPOLIS — Target has assisted Texas wildfire relief efforts by donating $60,000.

Target said that a $25,000 cash donation was made to the American Red Cross with the additional cash and product donations — including 12,000 bottles of water, 3,600 bottles of Gatorade, 500 boxes of snacks, clothing, diapers, toiletries and bedding — made to other nonprofit organizations in the Texas area.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Southeastern discount banner Fred's on Thursday morning reported that the consumer continues to be challenged by economic pressures. "In key markets we continue to see swings in sales [tied to] the payroll cycle," Bruce Efird, Fred's president and CEO, told analysts during a conference call this morning. Efird also reported an increase in government assistance utilization.

It is no secret that consumers have changed their mindset and shopping behavior in the wake of the weakened economy. Today’s shoppers continue to have a greater focus on more cost-effective at-home beauty solutions, and hair coloring is no exception.


Sales of hair coloring rose more than 5% to $1.08 billion at food, drug and mass (excluding Walmart) for the 52 weeks ended June 12, according to SymphonyIRI Group.


During that period, women’s hair coloring rose close to 6% to $943.7 million, while men’s hair coloring rose 1.4% to $140.7 million.


LOS ANGELES — Back-to-school budgets will moderately decrease this year, but more consumers will turn to the Internet to score the best deals.

According to a survey conducted by PriceGrabber, 48% of shoppers said they plan to spend $250 or more on back-to-school purchases, while 25% will spend $500 or more. This compared with 2010, when 56% of consumers indicated that they would spend $250 or more, while 31% planned to spend $500 or more.

WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT — Size matters, especially if it’s the size of the monthly fuel bill. Just because gas prices haven’t eclipsed $5 as many analysts had feared, doesn’t mean those lower-than-expected prices at the pump aren’t impacting buying and trip decisions, as evidenced by this latest survey. 

There is really no one factor driving sales of supplements today; there are a lot of factors. Consumer awareness and positive perception is on an upward trajectory, thanks in part to a number of published studies establishing the health benefit and need for supplements like vitamin D. The recession also has fostered consumer gravitation toward more self-care solutions.