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Hosted by: Dick Gordon
Show Originally Aired: 5/4/2005 CALL 1 800-423-TALK
That Love of Luxury
Louis Vuitton handbag in Rodeo Drive store in Beverly Hills (AP) Email to friend
Sales of Prada handbags and Armani suits are booming. The number of millionaires in America is now at a record level. This week, one of the country's oldest upscale retailers, Neiman Marcus, was sold for the healthy sum of $5.1 billion.
The ability of Neiman's to thrive while mid-scale retailers from Sears, to Macy's flounder, raises interesting questions about just who is driving America's growing appetite for luxury.
Is it the truly rich who can afford to spend $1,500 for a pair of Jimmy Choo sandals, or is it those lower down the income ladder who are trying to buy their way up one Chanel handbag at a time. And just what is this appetite for extravagance doing to the financial fortunes of already over-spent Americans?
