Consultant Sounds Alarm For ICSC Attendees

ORLANDO-It wasn’t the sort of cheerleading they came to hear, but delegates attending the 2003 Florida Conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers here took notes as Charlotte, NC retail consultant C. Britt Beemer laid out the gloomy scenario.

“The most amazing change among American shoppers is their lack of interest to ‘go shopping’,” Beemer told 3,000 attendees at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center in suburban Kissimmee, FL. “This year, when Americans went on vacation, only about 20% of their time was spent shopping, down from 26% just two years ago.”

The chairman of America’s Research Group, which also has a local office, said the 6% decline “should get retailers scratching their heads on how to solve this dangerous trend. In a short five years, women’s interest in shopping as a ‘pick-me-up’ has declined from 40% to 21%.”