Spending on mom to rise 8.4 percent this year

Consumers don’t mess around when it comes to Mom, and this Mother’s Day on May 13 should be even more special.

On average, a person celebrating the occasion is expected to spend 8.4 percent more on gifts this year than last year, or $152.52 each. Total spending should reach $18.6 billion, according to a recent study from the National Retail Federation.

It is the second biggest holiday of the year for retailers, falling only behind Christmas and projected to surpass this year’s Valentine’s Day spending of $17.6 billion.

According to the survey, consumers will spoil Mom with special meals and/or outings, clothing, electronics, flowers and more.

Two-thirds (66.4 percent) will buy flowers, spending a total of $2.2 billion, and nearly one-third (32.8 percent) will treat Mom to a new blouse or sweater, spending $1.6 billion on clothing and accessories.

Those buying electronics (12.7 percent) will shell out a total of $1.6 billion on tablets, digital cameras and more, and over half (54.3 percent) of all celebrants will treat Mom to a nice dinner or brunch, spending $3.4 billion.

Additionally, consumers will shell out $1.8 billion on gift cards and $1.3 billion on personal services such as a trip to a day spa.

Department stores, discount shops, jewelers, florists, electronics stores and specialty clothing shops should all share in the bounty of Mother’s Day gift-giving.

Men will spend an average of $189.74 on the women in their life this Mother’s Day, compared to the $117.42 women will spend.

Where gadgets can go
Consumers can recycle old electronics at any Staples store nationwide for free all year long, regardless of where the gadgets are purchased.

Staples has signed an agreement with HP to collect and recycle the following items: desktop personal computers, laptops, netbooks, tablet PCs, external hard drives, small servers, computer monitors, printers, desktop copiers, faxes, all-in-one devices, mice, keyboards, modems, routers, PC speakers, shredders, streaming devices, phone, Universal Power Supply backups, mobile phones, GPS devices, MP3 players, digital camcorders and digital cameras.

Customers can drop off items for recycling at the service desk of any Staples store.

For more, go to www.hp.com/us/go/recycling or www.staples.com/recycle.

Reach Warren L. Wise at 937-5524 or twitter.com/warrenlancewise.