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CAPITAL REGION
Poll finds holiday shoppers are not in a spending mood
BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter

Kim Marley plans to be cautious with her holiday spending this year. Like a growing number of New Yorkers, the insurance agent from Rotterdam figures she’ll protect her savings. Her decision reflects uncertainty in a tumultuous economy and fear for her own job. “I’m cutting my spending in half this year,” she said Friday while shopping at Rotterdam Square mall. “I’m trying to be safe and keep a little extra money in the bank.”
    While New Yorkers may look forward to the holidays, their enthusiasm isn’t prompting them to spend like they normally do, according to a survey released by the Siena Research Institute this week.
    The poll indicates that more than half of New Yorkers plan to scale down their spending. In comparison, a poll conducted in 2007 found about 35 percent of shoppers planned to scale back.
    Still, about 63 percent of people surveyed indicated they are looking forward to the holiday season. About 74 percent said they look forward to spending time with friends and family during the coming months.
    “The economy isn’t stealing the holidays, but New Yorkers say they are going to slow their spending this season,” said Don Levy, director of Siena’s Research Institute.
    Levy said, “Growing numbers of consumers say that their financial situation is worsening, so it is no surprise that despite excitement over the holiday season, many say they intend to draw back the gift budget and enjoy each other’s companionship with fewer gifts,” he said. “The cash registers will still ring, but according to consumers, the volume will be down again this year.”
    The outlook follows a steady procession of bad news facing the retail industry. Last month, the U.S. Commerce Department released a survey indicating that retail sales dropped 1.2 percent in September, almost double what analysts had initially predicted.
    The report was preceded by one from the National Retail Federation, which predicted that sales for November and December would increase by only 2.2 percent, the lowest increase since 2002. In response, some area retailers stocked only the bare essentials.
    Rebecca Flach, a spokeswoman with the Retail Council of New York State, said, “Going into the season and for the past few weeks we’ve been under the impression this was going to be a challenging season.”
    Flach cautioned not to look too far into the Siena poll results because holiday shoppers can be very impulsive. Although consumers may intend to save money this year, their normal buying patterns could take over once they start shopping.
    “What consumers say in these surveys doesn’t necessarily translate to how they behave when they get out into the marketplace,” she said.
    However, the worries don’t appear to be affecting generosity toward charitable organizations. The Siena poll reports that nearly the same number of people who made donations during the holidays in 2007 will give this year.
    City Mission of Schenectady Executive Director Michael Saccocio has already seen indications of the generosity. ..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00101

"how much you can spend" was never the intent of the holidays ... was it? Christmas is so commercialized it's ridiculous. Think back to when you were a kid - Little House on the Prarie - they made "do" with hand made gifts - a sweater from ma, a carving from "pa" - doing each others "chores" for a week, etc. It was a happier time.

Today, if kids don't have the latest sneakers, game system, newest cell phone toys or the best computer on the block, they're nobodies - ridiculed and outcast by their peers. It's ridiculous.

Will my shopping habits change? No, I plan on being just as "careful" as I've been every other year - not giving in to the commercialization of Christmas, just enjoying friends and family and living it in the spirit it was intended.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

So true MT......