I was just explaining to a friend about the recent downturns in the Department 56 retail market. I told him about how giftware such as Department 56 is more of a luxury and that in today's economy, people struggle to find disposable income for luxury items.
He works for one of the major water distributors and he said they experience a similar downturn in a troubled economy. He suggested people will quickly turn to tap water if times get tight.
I thought bottled water was more of a necessity because people are paranoid about public water, people like to carry sports bottles wherever they go, and I believed bottled water sales were booming. His contrasting opinion stated that the water industry takes even longer to bounce back than the giftware industry.
At home, my wife and I went from two 24-packs of Poland Spring sports bottles per week to two 2.5 gallon plastic jugs to our current choice, a Brita water filter. Saves $5-6 per week.
With our Department 56 purchases, we went from buying a piece per month of our favorite series, the Original Snow Village, to maybe one or two per year, to now only the new "A Christmas Story" releases at Christmas time when they are on sale. Saves several hundred dollars per year as well.
I need to do some research and see how the D56 industry is faring now, after being acquired by Enesco a while back, and after the initial dealer backlash.
To conclude, I do believe the economy is improving, our Brita water filter works great, we still love Poland Spring water bottles, but I'm pretty sure we won't be able to afford D56 for quite some time.
He works for one of the major water distributors and he said they experience a similar downturn in a troubled economy. He suggested people will quickly turn to tap water if times get tight.
I thought bottled water was more of a necessity because people are paranoid about public water, people like to carry sports bottles wherever they go, and I believed bottled water sales were booming. His contrasting opinion stated that the water industry takes even longer to bounce back than the giftware industry.
At home, my wife and I went from two 24-packs of Poland Spring sports bottles per week to two 2.5 gallon plastic jugs to our current choice, a Brita water filter. Saves $5-6 per week.
With our Department 56 purchases, we went from buying a piece per month of our favorite series, the Original Snow Village, to maybe one or two per year, to now only the new "A Christmas Story" releases at Christmas time when they are on sale. Saves several hundred dollars per year as well.
I need to do some research and see how the D56 industry is faring now, after being acquired by Enesco a while back, and after the initial dealer backlash.
To conclude, I do believe the economy is improving, our Brita water filter works great, we still love Poland Spring water bottles, but I'm pretty sure we won't be able to afford D56 for quite some time.
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