Consumers spend when they can save

Consumers spend when they can save

NEW YORK

How do you get penny pinchers to spend these days? Pitch products that promise to save them money.

Demand is rising for kitchen and bath gadgets that squeeze out that last blob of toothpaste and help get the suds out of tiny slivers of soap.

Marketers of these gizmos tout how the pennies they save by reducing waste can add up. Retailers are stocking up.

During the Great Recession, penny pinchers got even cheaper, while showing the newly frugal how it’s done. Cheapskate gadgets may be a sign of the times, but they’re also a sign of how product makers and retailers are trying to get people back in the spending habit.

Big companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and The Container Store and a longtime “As Seen on TV” pitchman are stocking up on items claiming to help people save a buck, such as:

Caps that keep the fizz in opened soda cans.

Digital day counters: Gizmos that count the days and hours food has been in the refrigerator, to help keep track of when that milk might be in danger of going bad.

New, stylish versions of pants extenders that let people wear their clothes even when they gain or lose weight.

From wire reports

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