It was once a rite of passage for American teenagers: Spend the summer slinging burgers, watching over the frolicking kids at the local pools, hawking apparel at the mall, or babysitting for the neighbor in order to earn a few bucks. But it turns out that fewer teens are taking part in the tradition of obtaining a summer job, despite an apparent plethora of opportunities to do so. [More]
trends
As Farmers Markets Turn Into Trendy Food Courts, Some Farmers Are Feeling Left Behind
By 6.21.16
A decade ago, as farmers markets were beginning to see a resurgence in a number of U.S. cities, they were a place to spend a morning picking up fresh, seasonal ingredients. Aside from the occasional stand selling baked goods, there wasn’t really anywhere to dine or socialize. [More]
Clothing And Accessories Now The Biggest Category In E-Commerce
By 4.6.16
What do Americans buy the most of online? Thanks to improved return policies and ever-expanding selection, purchases of clothing and accessories took the top spot in 2015 for the first time. That’s according to research by analytics company ComScore, which tracks online sales by categories, and noticed this important change. [More]
Unsurprising: The End Of Subsidized Smartphones Means U.S. Smartphone Sales Are Down
By 3.2.16
Do you have a smartphone? Do you like your smartphone and want to keep it going as long as possible? Now that U.S. carriers have quit giving us new free phones every 18 months to two years, smartphone users here have come to realize that the devices do not, in fact, cost $0-$200, and maybe we should keep using them for longer. Some recent sales data shows that smartphone sales are down here, and it’s not hard to figure out why. [More]
Pepsi Is Planning To Launch An Organic Version Of Gatorade Next Year
By 12.15.15
Whenever you take a swig of Gatorade, you’re probably not thinking about the Riptide Rush tree that bore fruit and provided your drink with flavor. But Pepsi wants to change how customers view Gatorade with a flying leap onto the healthy trend bandwagon, by introducing an organic version of the sports beverage next year. [More]
Schwan Ditching Artificial Flavors, Ingredients By 2017
By 10.22.15
Frozen meals, desserts and other products offered by food delivery company Schwan will be missing a few things soon: artificial ingredients and high-fructose corn syrup. [More]
Study: One Pumpkin Latte Per Season Is Enough For Most People
By 9.22.15
Sure, everyone knows someone who starts posting about how fall is their favorite season because pumpkin lattes are back (“squeeeee!”) and they’re going to drink one every day, but for the rest of us, one per season is just fine, thanks. [More]
Sales Of Actual Pumpkins Down Amid Pumpkin Spice-Flavored Craze
By 9.14.15
By now you’d have to be living under a rock where everything smells like dirt and wet rocks not to be aware of the annual pumpkin spice frenzy that overtakes menus across the land every fall. But while it’s not shocking to hear that things that are flavored to taste like pumpkin and/or the spices we love — allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc. — are selling like pumpkin spice hotcakes, it’s kind of sad to learn that sales of actual pumpkins are sliding. [More]
National Epidemic Of People Shoving Meat Down Pants Is Not Close To Stopping
By 8.20.15
As we prepared to share yet another news story about someone shoving beef down their pants, we got the heartening news: Consumerist is not alone in our fixation on the meat pants dance. It’s part of a nationwide trend due to increasing beef prices, which is also the reason why cattle rustling is on the rise. [More]
We’re Not Eating Cereal, And It’s Hurting Kellogg The Most
By 2.26.15
It’s not surprising that sales of breakfast cereal are falling: Americans, as a whole, are starting to eat breakfast on the move, cut carbs, and many people are fearful of genetically modified corn and wheat. If we do sit down and eat breakfast, we’ll scramble some eggs or microwave some oatmeal. [More]
Shopping Healthier & Without Lists, Millennials Are Changing The Supermarket Game
By 8.29.14
Grocery shopping used to be a rather easy experience: you’d look in the cupboard, make a list and drive to the store to collect your goods. Simple right? Well, times they are a changin’ and it’s millennials who are pushing the supermarket industry in new directions.. [More]
Sales Of Jeans Are Down 6%, Everybody Panic
By 8.13.14
The impending demise of jeans is currently big news. Is it really news, though? Are Americans really eschewing indigo-colored cotton, moving on to elastic-waisted options like leggings and yoga pants? Current trends and the preferences of teens indicate that the next few years might be tough ones for companies in the blue-jeans biz. [More]
The Changing Face Of Grocery Shopping: From Downsizing Supercenters To Brand Identity
By 4.17.14
Completing your weekly shopping trip used to mean going to one store and purchasing the one brand of tomato sauce offered. Today, consumers are bombarded with a plethora of decisions before they even write up their grocery list, from hitting up the health food store or the supercenter to going with the tired and true name brand of the generic store brand products. [More]
You Don’t Say: Study Shows That Bad Weather Is Good For Online Merchants
By 2.20.14
From the Global Department Of Studies That Tell Us What We Already Knew, a recent study of online retail data shows that while retail spending is down overall, shoppers spent more money online in January 2014 than in January 2013. What could the reason be? Well, speculates the company that did the study, maybe it’s because of the run of really crappy weather in highly populated areas of the country in 2014. [More]
Fewer Teens Are Driving Because They’re Broke
By 10.25.13
In 2012, 73% of graduating high school seniors nationwide had driver’s licenses according to the Centers for Disease Control. That’s down from 86% in 1996. What’s the reason for the drop? Better public transportation? Helicopter parenting? Stricter testing requirements? No, not that. A new study from the insurance industry-funded Highway Loss Data Institute indicates that it’s because teens don’t have jobs. [More]
Drink Tiny Sips Of Moonshine From Mini Mason Jar Shot Glasses
By 8.6.13
In case you’re not up on the trends, all of the coolest adults are pickling and canning the massive hoards of locally-grown vegetables that they haul home from farmer’s markets and their community-supported agriculture shares. When you’re not shoving peaches in them, it’s trendy to drink beverages out of canning jars. You know, re-purposing something that you already have. Then there are the shot glasses. [More]
McDonald's Manager Interrupts Attempted Coneing
By 9.20.11
“Coneing” is a “trend” where “people” have their “friends” YouTube them grabbing an ice cream cone from a fast food place by the top of the ice cream instead of the cone. The “comedy” arises out of the shocked reactions from the unsuspecting fast food workers seeing the customer get ice cream all over their hand on purpose. But here’s a video of McDonald’s manager who was hip to the game. He totally “coneblocks” an attempted coneing. [More]
Scooter Sales Are Vrooming
By 6.30.11
It’s not just Tom Hanks and friends riding them in the new movie Larry Crowne, US scooter sales have revved up 50% Q1 2011 from a year ago. High gas prices are helping drive the trend towards scooters, which can get 70 mpg and only need filling every 2-3 weeks, depending on your use. Plus they’re cute. But there is one key difference between this year’s boom and the one three years ago: [More]
