Marketers Fear Frugality May Just Be Here to Stay
from Advertising Age
With 5.7 million Americans out of work since the recession began in December 2007, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and some 16 percent of U.S. employees living on reduced pay, according to a recent Hewitt Associates survey, it's no surprise that many people are cinching their belts. What's troubling marketers, however, is the prospect that the consumer psychology has changed during the deepest recession in half a century, and that the tightening will remain when the downturn ends. More

Economy Suspected in Shoplifting Increases
from Salt Lake Tribune
A 31-year-old woman selected two pairs of shoes worth $100, hid them, and tried to walk out of a West Valley City, Utah, J.C. Penney. In a Taylorsville Utah, Harmon's, a 24-year-old man stuffed strawberry milk, vanilla pudding and salmon rolls into his coat and ran before he was caught. At a Wal-Mart, security cameras caught a woman slipping an electric toothbrush and razors into her purse. Thefts such as these have driven the number of shoplifting arrests to their highest levels in years in several Utah cities, and police lay at least part of the blame on the recession. More

Will Mobile Shoppers Want to Ring Up Purchases?
from The New York Times
Cellphones were made for cheap, frivolous purchases: addictive mobile games, “Star Trek” wallpapers, the latest Lady Gaga ring tone. But would you be comfortable using your phone to purchase big-ticket items, such as round-trip tickets to Tokyo? Or front row seats at a Beyoncé concert? More

City Tweets to Curb Tourist Drop-off
from Nashville Business Journal
Hotel rates are down 6 percent, attractions are deepening discounts and gas is almost half the price of last summer. Still, a nationwide recession is putting the squeeze on Music City’s second largest industry as it enters the summer tourist season. But the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau is battling the decline, in hopes of keeping any occupancy drop-off below 5 percent. Bureau staff is Twittering, Facebooking and sending out e-blasts to announce free stuff to do, last-minute travel deals, CMA Music Festival updates and attractions specials. More

Facebook - Fun and Profitable
from One Coast
Do you know why people love Facebook so much? It’s a fun way to follow your friends’ activities, look at pictures from their last trip, and see what types of fan pages they have joined. The draw to Facebook is the ease of being connected to people you see everyday, people you haven’t seen since high school, and sometimes people you don’t even know. About six months ago, I created a fan page for my gift boutique, Swagger Gifts, and since then it has been a fun and profitable way to interact with my customers! More

Respecting Time
from One Coast
Many of you have either read or heard me talk about CRM as a critical business tool. No, I'm not referring to Customer Relationship Management. Customer Respect Management is even more vital to a company's success. More

Cashing in on Aging Boomers
from Sacramento Business Journal
Two decades ago, Age Wave think-tank founders Maddy and Ken Dychtwald couldn’t get retailers or manufacturers interested in the 50-plus market. Now, the consumer products and services industry can’t stop thinking about the mature market, especially since a baby boomer turns 50 every 8½ seconds. At 78 million people, boomers represent one-third of all adults in the United States. More

U.S. Retail Lull Means Prep Time for Int'l expansion
from Reuters
U.S. retail giants in home furnishings, food and clothing are expected to push into emerging markets such as Mexico, Brazil and China, once the U.S. economy and cash flows improve, executives said. More

Good News: Retail Sector Soars (Updated)
from The Street
Shoppers are apparently no longer being enticed by deep discounts and promotions -- or maybe they're just hoarding their money. Regardless, consumer spending has dipped for the second straight month. But investors, still in the mindset that any news that isn't disastrous is good news, sent the retail sector rallying in trading this week. More

Peaks and Valleys of Retail Stability
from Business Facilities
Business as usual: when one retailer fails another succeeds. In the current economy, sink or swim has become sink or float. And while not all looks bleak, regardless of marketing, product quality, and cost, less competition is one way retailers can keep from drowning. More

The Forever Sale: Retailers Slow Pace of Markdowns
from WWD Reatail
Retailers are keeping cool when it comes to markdown madness. Even this past Memorial Day weekend, the traditional trigger for major spring clearances, stores appeared to take a more measured approach to markdowns than that seen last holiday season and earlier this year. And it may stay that way for the summer. More

Museum’s Shop Owner Banking on Tourist Upswing
from The News and Advance
Harry Lilly expects tourism to take off in Appomattox, Va., and he’s expanding his well-known gift shop and museum on U.S. 460 to be ready for more visitors. Lilly, owner of Lee-Grant Civil War Gift Shop recently refinanced the property so he can renovate it. The site’s buildings are getting new roofs now, later this summer he wants to replace the façade and remodel a storage room to increase the size of his store by a third. More

Making Museums Cool
from The Columbus Dispatch
From the Guggenheim in New York, where disc jockeys perform in the towering lobby on select Friday nights, to the Getty in Los Angeles, where emerging indie-rock and global bands play as part of the "Saturdays off the 405" series, such promotions are increasingly common. More

Culture Crunch: The Recession and the Arts
from TIME Magazine
On their first date, Barack and Michelle Obama went to the Art Institute of Chicago. Back then it was possible for them to go to a museum without attracting much attention. But when Michelle paid a visit to another museum a few weeks ago, people took note. On May 18, the First Lady traveled to New York City to inaugurate the newly refurbished American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. More

Philbrook Museum of Art Trades Tulips for Tomatoes
from Artdaily
In a time when food stamp participation in Oklahoma is at an all-time high, Philbrook Museum of Art announces that it will be converting its entire 3,600 square-foot south formal garden into a vegetable garden in an effort to help Oklahoma’s hungry get through the current economic downturn. The produce will be donated to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, who will in turn distribute it to their 450 Partner Programs in 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma. More

Eiteljorg Museum Gift Shop
from Indystar
If you've ever wanted to be a cowboy (or just wanted to wear the clothes) and have never visited the Eiteljorg Museum's Gift Shop, in Indianapolis, Ind., you need to see the wide range of gifts and goodies the shop offers. The spot, larger than one might expect, is well-stocked with Western boots, cowboy -- or cowgirl -- shirts with gorgeous embroidery, and jewelry (from $8.95 to $12,000). More

After an Age of Rage, Museums Have Mastered the Display of Commotional Restraint
from The Washington Post
At the height of the Brooklyn Museum's "Sensation" scandal in 1999, Arnold Lehman wore a bulletproof vest. The museum director also avoided taking the subway, regularly changed his route to and from work, and avoided appearing at rallies in support of the controversial exhibition of contemporary art. Because of public and media outrage at a handful of paintings, including one of the Virgin Mary that some Catholics thought was offensive, Lehman had been advised that his life was in danger. More