The Daily Campus

Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: Commentary

For retailers, 'tis definitely not the season to be jolly. The economy's in a slump, consumer confidence is at its lowest level in 40 years, and visions of sugar plums seem to have been replaced in the nation's consciousness by a dancing horde of foreclosures and defaults.

"This is going to be the holiday of socks and underwear for consumers, that dreaded Christmas where that's all you get,'' said Patricia Edwards, an analyst with nine years experience covering retail. For stores which peddle socks and underwear, then - and canned goods, breakfast cereals, and washing machines - this is looking to be a strong, if not banner, year. Wal-Mart recently posted a 10 percent rise in third-quarter profits, while similary bargain-basement BJ's Wholesale Club boosted its third-quarter predicted earnings per-share by 22.5 percent.

Unfortunately for students, we, as the youth and the tastemakers, probably weren't hoping for a box of undergarments from Wal-Mart come late December. Students are infamous for their love of stylish discretionary exuberance, whether it be the $4 lattes, Gucci handbags or iPhones. Yet it is precisely the retailers of these discretionary indulgences who are taking the biggest blows this holiday season; Target has not been doing as well as usual, and Starbucks saw its profits plummet 97 percent in the fourth fiscal quarter. Similarly, Best Buy, the nation's premier electronics retailer, predicted that revenues at its stores may plunge by as much as 15 percent in the next four months, which is still a better outlook than that of Circuit City, which has already declared bankruptcy.

What all this means for students is that it's time to revise our expectations of what we'll find under our (Non-denominational holiday season) Trees - and plan ahead to get the best deals on the gifts we plan to buy for others. On the one hand, with people less willing to splurge on themselves, an indulgent gift, be it a Starbucks gift card or a fancy gadget, may be appreciated more now than ever. On the other hand, those stores which have been the hardest-hit are also the least able to offer the sorts of holiday discounts American consumers have grown to expect. Black Friday, the bargain-hunter's mecca, was considered by many of its most zealous online aficionados, such as Gizmondo, the "Gadget Blog," to be a "big ball of disappointment" this year, though online retailing has been and may continue to be a bright light at the end of the bargain-hunting tunnel.

Yet trying to buy a big-ticket item that we hoped the gift recipient was secretly desiring has always been a potential recipe for disaster and quick re-gifting. Who can really expect to know the desires of another better than that person knows themselves? A thoughtful, tasteful, and above all unexpected gift never goes out of style. This difficult holiday season, perhaps that's the best bet.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools