As Americans, we've become accustomed to our status as the world's most conspicuous consumers; we have the big houses and the big closets to prove it, right? Well, that appears to be changing. Two recent and seemingly related trends are converging. Houses are getting smaller and shopping as a leisure time activity is subsiding.
Since 2009, the average square footage of a new single family home in America has been shrinking, reversing a 15-year expansion to unwieldy proportions. People are finally waking up to the fact that bigger is not necessarily better. Builders and architects report a new emphasis on quality of materials over quantity of rooms. Energy costs also play a factor. Who wants to heat & cool an impractical two-story foyer anymore? And, due to the record number of U.S. foreclosures, many folks are being forced to downsize to smaller digs whether they want to or not.
That leaves a lot of people with less room to store all their prized possessions, assuming our shopping habits continue unabated. Well, here's the good news on that front: It turns out that 60 percent of Americans have either lost interest in or feel neutral about shopping as a leisure time activity. Time magazine (6.29.11) reports:
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"Here in the U.S. we’ve been conspicuous consumers for so long that perhaps it’s gotten boring. The average mall shopper already has a closet full of clothes, so it’s hard to get too jazzed about another sweater or pair of shoes to add to the collection. It’s as if American consumers are just going through the motions, shopping out of habit and faux necessity, rather than actually enjoying the activity. The question is: If you’re not truly enjoying it, why are you doing it?"
That is the question, isn't it? Regardless of the answer, the end result is the same. Shopping leads to stuff. And Americans' relationship with their stuff is finally at a tipping point. Smaller spaces and less shopping, not to mention the cultural influence of shows like A&E's Hoarders, may actually signal the end of an era; an era of conspicuous consumption and the unwanted clutter that inevitably accompanies it.
