I have hope. I have hope that people will smile again. I see them smiling already. I have hope that the small, non-expensive kindnesses being offered by merchants are being remembered and will be repaid with customers who swarm back to them when their wallets are full again. And I have hope that the fear that we all feel is going to go away soon.
Some may call these sentiments a pipe dream. I prefer to think of them as hopeful. Based on the small glimmer I am now seeing at the end of a very long tunnel.
Like bears coming out of hibernation, for the first time in a very long time, shopping malls are filled with people. Yes, many are stretching their legs, buying cups of coffee not bags of clothes, but customers are venturing out. We’re all putting our proverbial toes in the water. If you need data to validate this cautious emergence of consumerism, some new data is indicating dare I say it, that there is some hope out there that has been measured…
The march consumer confidence index indicates that confidence was relatively unchanged in March. Hopeful, right? I say yes…we’re holding our own. We want to feel confident.
And Gallup’s Consumer Mood Index showed that consumers’ moods improved another ten points the week of March 23-29 from the week prior, March 16-22, which showed the greatest increase since September of 2008.
Is it just me, or do you see people crawling out from under their rocks? Am I a hopeful fool? Or do you see what I (think) I am seeing? Talk to me.
Hi Jeanne, I think you have it right, there is reason for optimism. That said, I’m afraid the “great unwinding” still has a way to go. Probably higher unemployment rate, more foreclosures coming, and banks still need to get healthy. Nouriel Roubini and other bears would probably disagree but, there is reason for hope in that the ship isn’t sinking anymore, although we still need to get our bearings and start moving forward…
Jeanne, the darkest hour is always before the storm. Although it still takes time for the clouds to lift once it passes, we know the sun will shine again soon. Life’s cycles are as inevitable as nature.
Paul,
Every retail clerk and every business I come in contact with now, I ask the question, are people coming back? The answer is pretty consistent: “yes, cautiously.” You are right, there are more adjustments to be made, but what we are seeing is that everyone is tired of living in this suspended moment of fear. Hope has been proven to be a key predecessor to taking actions, whether you are a consumer buying a pair of shoes or fighting an illness. Hope is powerful ammunition to doing something about what fate has dealt you.
This fear is a blend of reality and the media. What we need now is to get the media on the hope bandwagon. We need the media to be part of this stimulus in the market place to nudge along this hope. Don’t you agree?
Elaine,
You’re right, this will be a cycle. And the next nine months through the end of 2009 will tell us how long this cycle will take to correct. However, in this current case, the darkest hour was unfortunately not caused by mother nature.