BST discussion thread, page-68

The mgmt view will be along the lines of… average savings were v high coming out of covid, as these start to dwindle and higher mortgage payments bite, spending cuts will have to be made by families and individuals…. And this could lead to a migration to value… the question which was posed earlier by a distinguished poster is ‘which will be larger?’

1) the dollar move from the middle to value or
2) the current value spenders cutting back even more and buying less items, or moving from best to good in b & l range for example.

Now that’s a hard question to answer for sure, but there are a couple of clues from the gfc in the USA that could bode well for best and less. Two areas that performed strongly during the gfc were a) discount shops and b) kids clothes - people were happier to cut back on their own clothes before their kids clothes. Strangely it’s the same with cosmetics, ladies will cut back on expensive food and all sorts of things before they cut back on their fave tried and tested make ups. This is why L’Oréal is actually a decent one for different economic conditions potentially.

Now moving back to this company obviously best and less has both of these wrapped in one, which could set it up perfectly for tough economic times and reduced spending.