Luxury Retail at Risk as Market Drop Rattles U.S. Shoppers

The stock market’s 13 percent plunge since July 22 may mean lower sales for high-end retailers such as Tiffany & Co. and Neiman Marcus Group Inc.

The shopping habits of Americans who make more than $100,000 a year are tied to the positive wealth effect of rising shares, so the decline in recent weeks likely will hurt high-income consumers and the U.S. expansion, according to Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Bank and formerly of PNC Bank.