| From Iconoculture's Research Analysts |
What does Thanksgiving mean to consumers? No surprise -- it's just that day before the biggest shopping day of the year. And if you didn't notice, the rush began earlier than ever. Two weeks before Halloween, we saw the red and green mixing with the orange and brown.
This year, major retailers are focusing their holiday messages/taglines around family togetherness, being at home, and sharing. Don't mention the "C" word. While believers worry that terming the season "holidays" takes the religious heart out of it all, inclusiveness is an order of the multicultural, multifaceted, multi-identity day. Wal-Mart is "Home for the Holidays," while Target will "Gather Round" and there will be "No Place Like Lowe's for the Holidays (Believe, Cherish, Wish, Create)."
After a year of eyepopping gas prices, Hurricane Katrina, and more, checking in with friends and family is top of mind, whatever you want to call this time of year. |
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| The Audiopad is an electronic music tool that tracks the positions of electronically tagged objects on a tabletop surface, while software converts their positions into sound... |
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| Soup Peddler David Ansel delivers homemade soups door-to-door via bicycle to about 700 customers a week in and around Austin... |
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| Washington state's ShoreBank Pacific, billed as "America's first environmental bank," helps socially conscious consumers build their fortunes - and their businesses - on... |
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| The inaugural Los Angeles International Tamale Festival featured vendors selling thousands of tamales made with pork, chicken, green chile, cheese, and other fillings. We saw... |
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Dressmaker Gary Garebidians's holiday house display in the Bronx includes Frank Sinatra singing with the Rockettes, Liberace at his piano, and, of course, a life-size animated nativity. The display has been appraised for insurance coverage at $3 million. TIME OUT NEW YORK KIDS 11/12.05 |
Salary.com estimates a fair wage for the typical stay-at-home mom at $131,471 a year (including $88,009 for overtime, based on a 100-hour workweek). PARENTS 12.05 |
I do most of my snacking at work, all day long. KAREN PIERANUNZI, AGE 61, CONFESSING HER CRAVING FOR COOKIES AND POTATO CHIPS, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES 11.8.05 |
Latinos spend an average of $71 a week eating out or having food delivered. Non-Hispanics spend $59. Acculturated Latinos spend $108 a week, about 83% more than general-market consumers. NATION'S RESTAURANT NEWS 10.31.05 |
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