Harry potter to the rescue
"There is a rush to foster play patterns that are safe and Harry Potter is a known character," said Michael McNally, spokesman for Lego, which has temporarily sold out of many of its Harry Potter construction kits. "He is the kind of safe role model parents are looking for, and Harry Potter is also an individual kids can relate to."
Parents are also buying Quidditch racing sets, stuffed Harry Potter dolls and electronic databases of spells, said David Niggli, the chief operating officer of the toy retailer FAO Schwarz.
Looming economic uncertainty and concerns about overseas fighting have also aroused American's urge to nest.
"We had a great weekend after the 11th and had an incredible weekend after that: traffic, sales and transaction size were all up," said Marvin Girouard, chairman and chief executive of Pier I Imports, whose 800-plus stores specialize in items for the home. He said he is even optimistic that sales will hold up through the holidays. "Hey, people may not buy a new car or new computer, but they will buy ornaments, wreathes, and place-mats," he said. "And that serves us really well."
Large consumer electronics are ordinarily the first kind of luxury to stop selling in a slowing economy, but NPD, a market research firm, has raised its estimate for sales of DVD players to 13 million from 11.4 million since the attacks.
Dave Powers, a 34-year-old Manhattan resident, spent the first weeks after the attacks seeking the company of friends at New York bars. But last week he was at Circuit City in Union Square looking at DVD players and thinking about buying a wide-screen television and sound system.
The urge to curl up and escape
It's partially escapism," he said. "There is not really anything anyone can do now, besides make a donation. Now I feel like I want to pull myself in."
The need to find comfort has, of course, powerfully affected what Americans are eating. Fancy restaurateurs may be dusting empty wineglasses right now, but the makers of the fast and the fattening have been nourishing the nation's neuroses at a swift pace. Sales at quick service restaurants like McDonald's and Taco Bell have been higher during the last three weeks, compared to the comparable period a year earlier, according to NPD.
RSS