Food
Beer and Beans: Americans Stocked Up Ahead of the Coronavirus Lockdown
- Sales of pancake mix, pasta and instant potatoes soar 200%
- Shaving lotion, shoe polish and lipstick find fewer buyers
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Consumer spending, which makes up 70% of the U.S. economy, is sputtering to a halt -- but not before Americans stocked up on top priorities ranging from baked beans to beer.
“There is incredible strength in consumer packaged goods,” said Stifel brokerage analyst Michael Kobrick, who tracks data from Information Resources Inc. But there’s “declining spending in discretionary items as consumers grapple with the prolonged virus response.”