The Death of the Aspirational Buyer

The Death (or Disappearance)
of the

Aspirational Buyer

Once again she didn't show up at Nieman, Saks, or Nordstroms; you remember her quite fondly, but you won't be seeing much of her for a while, maybe for much of the next decade.  She was a college-educated, middle-class woman with the need to convince herself that she was entitled to some luxury in her life. She'd take care of the family at the mid-priced stores like Macy's or even Penney's; then she'd go to the "ritzier" end of the mall, have a latte, and shop for herself at the shoe department of Nordstrom's (oh, do they sell shoes!) or wander through Saks looking for the one item that would make her day, make her feel special.

Our friend just found out that when her Lexus 350 lease is over next month, the best she can afford to replace it with is a Toyota Corolla, given her deteriorating credit score. Her administrative job is still there at the office park, but she knows that they've stopped hiring and some departments are cutting staff. She's just had "the talk" with her daughter about the difference in costs between SUNY Albany (or Penn State) and Boston U. and made it clear that she can't sign for an additional $200k for private college over a state school. Her 401(k) is in shreds, as most of it was in her own employer's stock. Her husband's commissions are down 35 percent from two years ago when they refinanced the house to add the granite-clad kitchen with the "professional" six-burner oven (very useful for reheating Chinese take-out). The easy-to-afford mortgage on their house is being reset next month, and while her payments aren't going up much, she knows quite well that it's now greater than her neighbor got for the same house next door. And, to top it off, her parents stopped those annual gifts of 10 or 20 thousand dollars because the only estate problems they're left with is staying in their home.

So don't expect to see her at Saks for a while, or at Nieman, or at the shoe dep't of Nordstroms. She's either "shopping in her closet" or running into Kohl's in the next town (so no one will see her). And, to her great surprise, her 12 year old son doesn't mind getting his school clothes at Target.