Mother's Day spending may be down in slower economy
CINCINNATI -- Some moms may not be getting both chocolates and a bouquet for Mother's Day this year as consumers watch their spending. Even businesses that traditionally benefit from the holiday, like florists and restaurants, are offering special offers and products.
Analysts don't expect a dramatic drop in Mother's Day spending — which ranks fourth behind the winter holidays, back-to-school buying and Valentine's Day — but think it will be lighter despite the extra cash some consumers have from their tax refunds and stimulus payments.
"I'd be very surprised if there's any big jump in spending, and I'd be surprised if rebates get earmarked for Mother's Day," said Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics LLC. He thinks spending will probably be about flat for Mother's Day.
With middle- and lower-income consumers especially feeling the pinch from rising food and gas prices, mothers may be the ones urging their loved ones to scale back.
Rosalie Pryor of Cincinnati told her 11 children just to get her cards this year instead of flowers and gifts.
"Some of them are working two jobs just to take care of their families," said Pryor. "With everyone living from paycheck to paycheck, I'd rather them use the money to pay bills."
Janet Hoffman, managing partner of the North American retail practice of Accenture, believes spending will be a little lighter than usual. She said she thinks women were the first in the Christmas season to forgo items for themselves and will probably ask families to cut spending for Mother's Day.
"In this case, I think they are going to insist that Mother knows best," Hoffman said.
The National Retail Federation expects people to spend slightly less this year on Mother's Day gifts than last year, and for shoppers to concentrate on one major present rather than many smaller ones.
Instead of buying several gifts, Kevin Ford, 41, of Fort Worth, and his siblings were replacing a dead tree in their mother's yard and doing some overall yard cleanup.
