Consumer confidence is not available in stores
by Beth Teitell

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

I don't know who the Conference Board interviewed for its little ``consumer confidence'' index, but it wasn't me.

Yesterday, the New York-based board reported that confidence rose for the second consecutive month in June, jumping from 116.1 to 117.9 (whatever that means).

I'd like to know where these confident Americans shop because I've made a few purchases lately and I'm not feeling so cocky:

• During the course of a short stroll, a $50 pair of brown leather sports sandals that should have been perfect walking shoes (they weren't attractive enough to be uncomfortable), created the beginning of two blisters, one on the left pinky toe, the other on the arch of the same foot.

• A long black skirt that promised to make me look slim and flowy - a la Kate Hudson - while we were in the store, flipped on me during our first outing, turning me from a starlet into Margaret Dumont.

  Perhaps the Conference Board needs to do follow-up surveys, to see if people remain confident two or three days post-purchase: ``The shirt that you had to have, the one that was going to change your life, and that you paid $128 for, are you still glad you bought it?''

  You know, I'm wondering if this so-called confidence is real. I've read recently that a growing number of people in our society take anti-depressants. Perhaps the pill poppers are feeling better than they should, buying settees or end tables from Domain willy-nilly, driving up the index. If one too many people forget to take their meds, look out!

  Or, maybe confidence is rising because people, for whatever reason, have started leaving their mothers at home when shopping.

  A woman I interviewed for my own survey reported that she never feels less confident than when shopping with mom.

  ``It was a few years ago, but I still remember it,'' she said. ``We were at Banana Republic and I saw a white safari jacket - on sale. But all she could talk about was how it would yellow, or get stained and be `nothing but heartache.' ''

  The daughter bought the jacket, but has never been able to enjoy it.

  (I've never met a mother who considers a white anything - a chair, pants, car - a smart choice. Instead of those at-home early pregnancy tests, you could test for motherhood by showing a woman a white shirt or white rug and asking, ``Would this be a wise purchase?'')

  Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if confidence is rising because people are shopping more on the Internet, thereby bypassing salespeople.

  If there's a confidence killer out there, it's the perfectly groomed saleswoman.

  ``I try to remind myself that I have a nice career and they work in a clothing store,'' one of my study subjects reported, recalling a recent trip to Ann Taylor, ``but it doesn't help. When you're on their turf, being able to pair a scarf with a suit counts more than an MBA.''

  Meanwhile, I'm not the only one a little skeptical about this Consumer Confidence Index. Yesterday, Reuters reported that stocks extended their losses before midday as ``investors shrugged off economic reports showing strength in consumer confidence.''

  They couldn't all have bought black skirts and sports sandals, could they?