Shopping

Emerging Foundation of U.S. Culture

Shopping was an important part of the expansion of the post–World War II economy in the United States. Shopping centers and malls became the new centers of community life in the expanding suburbs. During the cold war, Americans (including Vice President Richard Nixon in his 1959 Kitchen Debate with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev) extolled shopping as a symbol of the consumer's personal freedom. Choice in shopping allowed consumers to purchase homes, cars, appliances, clothes, food, and other needs and wants. In turn, this expanded the economy after a decade and a half of Depression-era thrift and wartime rationing into a dynamic mass consumption economy.

Much of this spending was fueled by an increase in credit in the form of credit cards (expanded in the 1950s through the Diner's Club card and American Express, joined over the next 20 years by Visa and Mastercard) and home mortgages. Americans enjoyed both increases in material prosperity and debt. Consumption continued even through recessions in the 1970s and 1980s, and after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush told the nation to go shopping as a response, indicative of how central consumption had become to national identity.

Effects of an Early-21st-Century Recession

The recession that began in 2008 reduced consumer spending. A new pro-savings, anticonsumption mind-set dramatically transformed the retail industry. Other concerns include a high level of debt, high healthcare costs, and depressed conditions in the housing market leading to low home equities and limits on consumers to sell their homes. From the late 1990s to 2006, consumers in the United States increased the balance on their mortgages, taking advantage of rapidly rising home values, which enhanced their borrowing power. This enabled them to spend the cash windfall freely, driving up retail sales in many categories, which then began slowing down in 2006.

In 2010, a continued depressed housing market, a high level of home mortgage foreclosures, high unemployment levels, lower consumer confidence, and tightened lending standards forced consumers to save more and spend less. Over time, a higher percentage of the spending focused on high-value items with longer lives, low impact on the environment, and low energy consumption, as well as on products that promoted a healthy lifestyle.

In the meantime, competition among retailers continued to intensify. Physical retail stores battled each other for competitive advantage, while direct marketers (including online e-commerce and catalogues) took away market share from them. Several major retailers, including Circuit City, Sharper Image, Linen ‘n Things, Bombay Company, and others have either declared or operated out of bankruptcy. In the United States, malls and shopping centers continue to experience higher vacancy rates, and very few major chains have expanded their operations. Direct marketing sales across all categories fell from an all-time high of $1.95 trillion in 2008 to $1.74 trillion in 2009.

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