A research brief from MediaPost this morning cites a June survey from BIGResearch that says women are worried about the economy and they are not sure which indicator to trust.

I'm right there. I see the Dow bouncing around (it happens not worth panic) and I hear the messages from our economic advisers saying everything is fine. But we also see the price of gas, milk and other consumer products ticking up. Women like me (the ones who like to be prepared for such things ) start swapping their Starbucks lattes for a McDonald's coffee and otherwise tightening their pursestrings.

Taking that further, many folks start whacking out all of those extraneous expenditures (read leisure time activities) and extra driving trips out of their budget plans.

According to BigResearch's June Survey almost one third of women respondents plan on on decreasing spending in the next three months. It's not just the low wage earners, almost a third of consumers with incomes over $50,000 will cut back as well.

Just over 40% of women will cut back the number of shopping trips. Just over 40% will shop closer to home.

A high point for those of you promoting digital scrapbooking, machine embroidery and other computer crafts...Future purchase intentions for durables such as computers, furniture, appliances, home improvements, TV's, digital cameras, and housing all are up from the previous month . This indicates that they may be saving to spend in the third or fourth quarter (back to school- winter holiday) so plan accordingly.

What to do now to keep the registers ringing over the summer

• Make your class schedules available as early as possible- people are planning to do multiple trips.
• Consider classes on how to use items in your "stash" of supplies.
• Promote carpools to classes.
• Drop/reschedule sessions with poor attendence early.
• Promote crafting as an option for gift giving
• Highlight sessions on recycling found objects- get this and the gift giving sessions info to the media looking for "Stretch your dollar" stories.
• Try children's classes side by side mom classes so mom doesn't give up her me time in order to do something for her kids.
  

Most of all, make a visit to your store fun so it is the last luxury to be trimmed. And, if possible, try to give a bit more- cookies when you usually don't provide snacks or a free project sheet. Something extra when money is thin is always welcome-- Beth