As Black Friday is well underway this morning, it’s important to note that 70 percent of the United States economy is based on consumer spending.
70 percent.
The number seemed incredibly high to me, but now, certain policies, certain statements make a whole lot more sense. On Here and Now a few weeks ago, we explored the importance of this upcoming holiday season to the overall economy a few weeks ago with Deborah Mitchell, who is Executive Director at the Center for Brand and Product Management at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School.
I’ve linked to the whole interview above, but this is what Prof. Mitchell had to say about the holiday season and its meaning to the American economy.
“It’s very important. Just like the 70 percent figure is very important for the overall economy, the holiday is huge. So we’re going to be watching it very carefully. The early indicators are not necessarily good. We see some major retailers like Kohls and Macy’s saying that they are going to hire more seasonal help, and that they are you know, kind of gearing up for a good reason. But there are other retailers who are worried. They will say behind the scenes that they’re afraid they invested too much in inventory, and that they geared up for a holiday season that may not materialize.”
For an overview of the first few hours of the season, you can look at this article from USA Today. If you want an interesting read about the evolution of “Black Friday,” the Journal-Sentinel has it.
Here’s a sneak peak at the first few paragraphs:
“It was born as a negative term, got spun positive, remained little-used for more than a decade and then exploded.
Today it’s everywhere, and everyone who watches a TV or picks up a newspaper in November knows the day after Thanksgiving is “Black Friday.”
But it wasn’t always so. And the name’s origins (the accepted story is that the one-day shopping blowout puts stores “in the black” profit-wise for the year) aren’t what most people think.”
WISCONSIN REPRESENTS IN THE WHITE HOUSE
In a couple hours, First Lady Michelle Obama will officially accept the White House Christmas Tree from Sue and Tom Schroeder who operate Schroeder’s Forevergreens in the Fox Valley.
Sue and Tom Schroeder with the White House Christmas Tree
The White House describes the tree as a “beautiful 19-foot-tall balsam fir that was selected in early October and harvested this month.”
It will be on display throughout the holiday season in the Blue Room inside the White House. The President’s press staff said in a news release that members of the National Christmas Tree Association have presented the official White House Christmas Tree each winter since 1966.
More from the White House: “Schroeder’s Forevergreens is one of approximately 800 Christmas tree farms and lots nationwide that donate Christmas trees to the Christmas SPIRIT Foundations’ Trees for Troops program. Trees for Troops has provided 84,000 full-sized farm-grown Christmas trees to troops and military families since it began in 2005 and this year’s goal is to deliver their 100,000th tree.”
Wisconsin State Farmer has a nice write-up on the process to get selected and the Schroeder’s efforts leading up to this historic moment for their family farm.
“The Schroeder’s had entered trees from their farm in the national contest before. To enter the national contest, growers must first win their state/regional competitions. 2011 was the fourth year the Schroeder’s entered a tree.
Finally winning the contest and earning grand champion status validated their hard work and persistence, said Sue Schroeder. “Entering but not winning the national contest is both rewarding and frustrating, knowing that you were so close, but finally winning is 100 percent exciting,” said Schroeder. “I know we’ll love the experience and we wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
The Schroeder’s began growing trees on their farms located in central Wisconsin’s Marquette and Waushara counties in 1987. They currently grow several species of trees on approximately 150 acres of land.
Since 1976 the Schroeder’s have provided thousands of real Christmas trees to Fox Valley families from their retail lots. Their retail lot is located on the corner of Lake and Main Streets in Neenah. “
HERE AND NOW PREVIEW
Time to be thankful for the work of Frederica and Andy Moore for this week’s Here and Now.
Busy program for everyone, folks.
We’ll dive into a discussion of the economy with an interview with Judi Bartfeld, who is a professor in the Dept. of Consumer Science at UW-Madison. She also works as a Food Security Research and Policy Specialist, UW-Extension. “Food Security” is a fancy way to say “having enough to eat.” Her team maps poverty around the state as it presents itself in the need for food. This Thanksgiving weekend-themed segment will expose the latest data about who the neediest people are-and why-in Wisconsin.
We’re in the middle of gun-deer season and we’ll catch up with Dr. James Kroll, the so-called “Dr. Deer,” who is under contract from the Department of Administration to study and make recommendations on the future of the deer population here. Kroll will talk about his work via telephone from his native Texas where he’s, you guessed it, hunting deer this week.
We’ll stay on that topic and the challenges facing Kroll with George Meyer, the former State DNR Secretary and current Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.
Finally, since we remain in the middle of an attempted recall of Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, we’ll talk politics with Republican Bill McCoshen, the former Commerce Secretary and Democrat Scot Ross, who is the Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now, which is one of the groups actively involved in the recall.
Here and Now airs every Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
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