Shrunken Middle Class Driving Corporate Marketing Elsewhere

It’s out with Loehmann’s, and in with Barneys and $3000 refrigerators, with Dollar Stores popping up everywhere. A few pundits continue to argue, but dramatic economic inequality is the background against which corporate marketing strategies are now playing out. There are a variety of ways to render the numbers, but one formulation cited in this article cuts to the chase: In 2012, the top 5 percent of earners were responsible for 38 percent of domestic consumption, up from 28 percent in 1995.