The last few times I was at a local mall, the number of people there has been noticeably higher than just a few months ago. Some of this is probably related to the seasonal issues, such as back to school shopping, but in the early months of this year, the malls resembled ghost towns.
How good an economic indicator is this? Well, you can't have spending unless you have shoppers. The shoppers may be more value oriented but the folks were carrying packages and even more importantly looked sort of happy.
Going back a few months, the people who I did see at malls looked like they were sorry to be there. It almost seemed that they had to be there because there was something they had to get because they really had no other choice. Now the shoppers seemed more relaxed, and happier, chatting, going to the food court and generally creating a familiar buzz that was missing a few months ago.
I think the consumer is coming back, not at the same level as during the bubble but at a higher level than the last nine to twelve months. Considering how the companies have reduced cost, even small growth in revenue will result in significant profitability.
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