Always look on the bright side of life
by David Atkins (“thereisnospoon”)
As we await the impact of the jobs report, it bears reminding that for some people at least, the good times keep rolling:
Nordstrom has a waiting list for a Chanel sequined tweed coat with a $9,010 price. Neiman Marcus has sold out in almost every size of Christian Louboutin “Bianca” platform pumps, at $775 a pair. Mercedes-Benz said it sold more cars last month in the United States than it had in any July in five years.
Even with the economy in a funk and many Americans pulling back on spending, the rich are again buying designer clothing, luxury cars and about anything that catches their fancy. Luxury goods stores, which fared much worse than other retailers in the recession, are more than recovering — they are zooming. Many high-end businesses are even able to mark up, rather than discount, items to attract customers who equate quality with price.
“If a designer shoe goes up from $800 to $860, who notices?” said Arnold Aronson, managing director of retail strategies at the consulting firm Kurt Salmon, and the former chairman and chief executive of Saks.
The rich do not spend quite as they did in the free-wheeling period before the recession, but they are closer to that level.
What’s $60 between good well-to-do friends? Seems to me that what these folks need is a bigger tax break so the nobility can employ all of us somehow. Has Washington considered adding Gucci and Prada factories stateside as part of the new “pivot to jobs” policy? It might do more good than some of the useless tax breaks they’re looking at.
The sad part is, I’m only halfway kidding.