Trends for May 6, 2002

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, May 6, 2002 | 8:30 a.m.

Shop till you drop

Time to give it up for Mommy dearest your cash, that is and buy her something really swell for Mother's Day. (For all you slackers out there, that would be Sunday.)

The National Retail Federation is all over it. The results of a recent survey of 1,000 people conducted by the trade association reveal that consumers plan to spend somewhere in the ballpark of $97 per household on Mother's Day gifts this year up from $62 in 2001.

Turns out 23.6 percent of men intend to buy Mom jewelry, compared to 14.4 percent of women. And here's a real shocker men are apt to spend more on gifts for Mom this year ($118) than women ($79).

Where to shop for that perfect present? It's a no-brainer for consumers age 18 to 24 77.6 percent of whom will be hitting "speciality stores" in search of gifts, versus the survey average of 60.5 percent of people in other age groups.

Department stores finished second (58.2 percent), while only 31.8 percent of shoppers will hit discount stores. Meanwhile 16.8 percent of those surveyed plan to shop for Mom online.

Honorable mentions

Of course, you could always go with the reliable, old standby of flowers. The folks at FTD.com certainly hope you will.

The online florist also conducted a survey, posing the rather ridiculous question, "Why honor your Mom on Mother's Day?"

The findings: 50 percent of the 1,004 Americans polled answered, because "she survived raising me, and that was no small feat." Nine percent pointed to the fact that "she always has dinner on the table and clean laundry in the closet."

Lucky for FTD.com that 57 percent of Americans intend to send their mothers flowers this year. The survey results also found that 47 percent of moms would enjoy receiving bath and beauty items, home and garden accessories (30 percent) and gourmet gift baskets (12 percent) all of which just happen to be available for purchase on the company's website. How convenient.

Turning the table

Why not put a different spin on Mother's Day and let Mom do the honoring?

Celia Rocks, author of "Organizing the Good Life: A Path to Joyful Simplicity Home to Work & Back" (Facts on Demand Press, 2001, $12.95), suggests that instead of basking in motherhood this holiday, moms should find ways to put their children on a pedestal, "and make them feel that the family is celebrating them, too."

Huh? As though moms aren't already forced to do this the other 364 days of the year.

Among Rock's suggestions:

You know what they say: A mother's work is never done.