NEW YORK — The rich are tightening their belts, too. Even if it’s still a Gucci.
Faced with the sharpest decline in net worth in nearly 50 years, wealthy Americans are re-evaluating their priorities and slashing their spending at a rate unseen in decades — a move that could have dire consequences for the economy, luxury stores and high-end brands.
In response to the increasingly subdued shopping mood that began late last year, luxury brands are cutting their inventory, changing the assortment of products they offer and tweaking their advertising message.
“Fewer, better things,” suggests diamond- jewelry giant De Beers Group in an ad campaign launched last month.
Luxury sales overall dropped 34.5 percent in the first week of December from the same period a year ago, according to SpendingPulse, a data service provided by MasterCard Advisors, and were down 23 percent in the five weeks ended Dec. 6.
Such behavior differs drastically from a year ago, when luxury stores couldn’t keep up with the wealthy’s appetite for extravagance. A-listers wanted $5,000 handbags, not the $500 versions they bought in the past.
But the financial meltdown has deflated the demand that reigned for much of this decade, resulting in plummeting sales for many luxury purveyors.
“This is no longer a state of mind, or what feels right,” said luxury consultant Robert Burke. “This is a reality of where people’s bank accounts and investment portfolios are.”
