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Britt Beemer America's Research Group articles most recent first Furniture Buying Index Falls in May Consumers Shift Spending To What They Need, Not What They Want Furniture Buying Index Drops Two More Points; Wal Mart Expands Home Furnishings In Midst of Sluggish Furniture Sales Beemer - Many Retailers In Free Fall After Disappointing December August Retail Sales Surge; Home Furnishings, Accessories Lag behind Expert Predicts Back-to-School Spending to Grow Meagerly in 2007 Retail Shopping Takes A Holiday Early Indications Are For A Frugal First Quarter Independent Retailers Outperformed Chain Stores In December Britt Beemer Lowers Forecast of Christmas Retail Sales to 2.7% Rise Over Last Year; Lack of “Must Have” Item to Blame Want To Drive Shoppers Away? Decorate Stores Less and Don’t Say “Merry Christmas” 2006 Q4 Shoppers Study Revealing; Cyber Monday a Hoax, Biggest Retail Push Will Be After December 15th 10 Trends For Retail Christmas 2006 Survey; Parents Cite High Gas Prices As Primary Reason For Limiting Back To School Spending Families Reduce Summer Spending As Gas Prices Rise Or Was It? New Survey Casts Doubt On Rosie Black Friday Survey; Bargain Hunters Drive June Results Top 10 Retail Stores For April; Discounts Drive Traffic Survey Says Americans Extremely Optimist About The Future 37% Of Shoppers Noticed Less Christmas Decorations In Stores; Spent Less As A Result America’s Research Group; Shopping Levels Increasing But Still Expected To Be Lackluster 3.2% Over 2003 Lack Of Hot New Product Weighing Heavily On Holiday Shopping Survey Of Thanksgiving Weekend Shoppers; "We're Not Impressed"; 45% Say Discounts Not Enough Britt Beemer’s Christmas 2004 Sales Forecast; 19% Will Spend More Since Bush Was Reelected Seven Things Your Store’s Appearance Tells Your Customers Britt Beemer Cites Convenience As Key To Drawing Male Shoppers Beemer Lowers Christmas Sales Projection to 4.2% Increase This Year Compared To His Earlier 4.8% Sales Increase survey 31.0% of Americans Who Planned to Shop Thanksgiving Weekend Did Not Get Around To It Study Shows 11% Increase In Consumer Spending For Appliance, Electronics, Computers Britt Beemer Predicts 4.8% Increase In Holiday Spending survey Furniture Leads All Categories For Shopping Levels Over Labor Day Weekend survey Consumers Plan to Spend 10% More on Back to School Furniture Buying Index Up One Point Buying furniture is on consumers’ minds, but not a top priority Shopping Is Not a Big Priority for Many Americans The Incredible Shrinking Customer Base How Loyal is Your Customer? The Loyalty American Consumers Have Towards Brand Products

Higher gas prices, rising prices at their local supermarket and feeling the pinch of credit card debt are taking their toll on American families.
C. Britt Beemer, Founder and CEO, ARG

Half of American consumers (49.8%) plan to reduce personal and family spending due to higher gas prices, according to the findings of a new survey conducted by America’s Research Group (ARG). Almost one quarter of consumers (24.7%) said that they will definitely spend much less this summer due to higher gas prices and 56.6% will somewhat reduce their summer spending.

The “Consumer Mind Reader” research also reveals that a significant number of families (45.7%) will change their vacation plans if gas prices remain above $3.00, up to $3.50 a gallon.

"Higher gas prices, rising prices at their local supermarket and feeling the pinch of credit card debt are taking their toll on American families,” said C. Britt Beemer, founder and CEO of ARG.

In the month of April, 16.5% of consumers postponed or delayed a major purchase of $500 or more. That compares to 15.7% a year ago in April. Of those who did postpone a major purchase, 28.5% said it was more than they wanted to spend, 21.8% could not find the item they wanted, 20.6% cited they did not want to spend that much money, and 16.4% specifically cited higher gas prices.

Consumer confidence in employment is also on the wane, Beemer stated, citing the fact that only 28.3% feel “very confident” about getting a job in April, compared to 35.9% in February.

The survey of 1,000 consumers was conducted from May 5th to May 9th.