Result0's video: Americans getting rid of their luxury items

A new survey of U.S. shopping trends says there is "no discretionary spending going on in America" and consumers are buying only to replace items they need. "People are not even thinking about buying things," C. Britt Beemer, chief executive officer of America's Research Group, a market research firm in Charleston, S.C., said in a news release on Thursday. "This is the first time in 30 years of consumer surveys that we've seen this low interest in shopping." According to the latest 2009 Consumer Mind Reader Survey, conducted bimonthly by ARG with the help of UBS Global Equity Research, a firm that provides analysis to institutional investors, many Americans are shopping only for what they need because 48.5 per cent of consumers are feeling pressure from credit card bills. The survey also found that 66.9 per cent of consumers think spending to stimulate the U.S. economy by the Obama administration will mean their children will have fewer opportunities and higher taxes. Beemer said the combination of these two factors — pressure from credit card bills and concern about the future — is causing consumers to think twice before spending on items they could live without or items deemed not essential. The survey says only 29.9 per cent of consumers say they will buy more in May because they feel better about their jobs or the economy, while 36.2 per cent say they are cutting back because of debts and overdue bills, and 7.7 per cent say they are spending less as a result of gas and heating costs. More than a quarter of consumers, 26.7 per cent, say they are buying items only when they have been discounted by 50 per cent. Beemer said the survey found appliance, electronic, home improvement and department stores noted slight increases in shopping levels in April, which he attributed to the need of consumers to replace household appliances that are no longer working. Furniture stores saw a very slight increase as consumers replaced old furniture. Hardest-hit retailers in April were clothing, accessory and jewelry stores in malls, all of which registered 50 per cent declines in shopping levels. Breemer said garage sales and flea markets, however, saw increases in shopping levels. He said these provided the bargains that shoppers are seeking. Survey results were compiled after ARG conducted 1,000 telephone interviews from May 1 to 3 at its headquarters in Charleston, S.C. The error factor is plus or minus 3.8 per cent.