Consumers In Doubt
By Pam Danziger -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 12/1/2001
Everything changed on 9-11. We've heard this so many times, but it still hasn't settled firmly into our national consciousness. Before 9-11, we were concerned about the pending economic downturn; now we accept recession as a given. Before 9-11, we hoped for a turnaround by the second quarter of 2002; now we face the prospect of a protracted wartime economy.
In 2000, the gift industry grossed some $55.2 billion at retail. Home accessories and accents reaped a 30 percent share of this market and posted double-digit growth over the previous year, reaching $16.5 billion in retail sales. General gifts, which includes baby and children's gifts, desk accessories, fashion jewelry, gourmet specialties, men's gifts, music, personal care, pet accessories, and wedding and anniversary gifts, posted 9 percent growth over the previous year to garner $13.9 billion at retail. Stationery products, despite flat sales in greeting cards, grew a healthy 4 percent to $13.8 billion. While seasonal decor sales remained steady in 2000, only the collectibles segment of gifts experienced a sales drop last year, down nearly 7 percent to $7.1 billion.
But that was then.
For the full story, see the December 2001 issue of Gifts & Dec.
