How does a Recession affect the Holiday Season?

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Keeping the joy in the holiday season has been especially challenging for an increased number of people this year. This is due to the economic downturn which has been deemed a recession. This recession actually started a year ago. The consumer, retailer and chartable organizations are all adversely affected this holiday season by the recession finacially. As you will see this recession is not totally negative depending on your perspective. What is a recession? The definition is where there is two quarters of negative growth in GDP – Gross Dosmestic Product. GDP is the total market value of all final good and services produced per year. GDP is the total market value of all final goods and services produced in a calendar year. In the third quarter of 2008 the GDP declined by ½ %. Where this part of this decline was created from is the 3.1% decrease in personal consumption expenditures. One place that this can be seen is in fewer sales of clothing. US Commerce Dept reported spending was down for the 5th conscecutive month as of October. The second hand shops have seen an increase in the number of patrons. But they too have seen a decrease in the amount that is being spent. People have had to prioritize needs in order to make their money stretch. This is a great concern for retailers. They realize that consumer spending comprises more than 2/3 of the US economy. The retailers depend on the Christmas season to put their profits in the black. The retailer’s stress the importance of gifts during the holiday season thru extensive marketing. The marketing is the highest for Black Friday’s Sales. This is due to the fact that Black Friday’s sales usually account for a third of a stores annual profits. This year stores were even opening at 4am here in Great Falls. The stores knew that this year they had to sweeten the deals. The deeper discounts

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