May 6, 2010

More being spent on mothers this yearBy Kristy Eppley RuponTheState.com

South Carolina — Mother’s Day shoppers this year are still skipping the diamonds, but they’re back to buying roses as consumers creak open their wallets.

An economic recovery – while still weak – is giving consumers room to be a little less worried about how much a gift for mom costs and a little more worried about whether she will like it as they celebrate on Sunday.

“People are more confident than they were last year,” said Martha Studstill, who owns Uptown on Main gift shop and is seeing an increase of more than 20 percent this year in the average amount spent for Mother’s Day gifts.

Consumers nationwide will spend an average of $126.90 on Mother’s Day gifts this year, about 2 percent more than last year, according to a National Retail Federation survey.

Like last year, specialty stores – such as jewelry and gift shops – are expected to get the most traffic, according the industry survey. But department stores will get significantly more traffic this year, while discount stores will see about the same number of people as last year.

Consumer confidence still is shaky, especially as South Carolina continues to wrestle with a jobless rate among the nation’s worst.

But with some positive economic news, such as a some pickup in hiring and home sales, spending is on the rise.

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