Consumer Minute: Circuit City, gold, fashion

Circuit City closes
More than 34,000 people who worked for Circuit City are out of a job or starting a new one after the company closed its stores for good on Sunday including the store at Garden City in Cranston.

Circuit City was the nation’s second-largest consumer electronics retailer.

For the last month and a half, a group of four liquidators have conducted going-out-of-business sales, selling its remaining $1.7billion worth of inventory.

Gold hoarding
More Americans are said to be stashing gold in their homes.

Analysts say some people perceive gold as a safe investment in troubled economic times.  Many believe it’s reliable and not subject to fluctuations like the stock market.

But that might not actually be true.  Economists say if the U.S. economy does take a turn upward, gold hoarders could lose money as the price of gold levels out, or falls.

Sales of gold last year topped 600 tons—that was up more than 40 percent from the year before.

Downsizing fashion
The downward trending economy is contributing to a downward trend in fashion.

Retailers and designers are apparently turning toward lower hemlines, and more diverse clothing lines that can be described as more “understated” or even “modest.“

One luxury retailer says “bling” is on its way out in favor of this new, more modest trend.  It makes more sense, the retailer says, because clothing that’s a little more “plain” can be worn on many different occasions.