Where’s the Consumer?

Challenging September and October domestic beer sales have got beer marketers wondering where is the lower-middle income consumer hiding these days? And it's not just beer: lower-end products at Procter & Gamble, Coke, and other CPG companies. Wal-Mart announced its estimated comparable same-store sales in its US rose just 0.5% in October, after a weak September, despite falling gas prices. UBS retail analyst Neil Currie suggests that Wal-Mart may start to get aggressive to wine back low-income consumers. He writes:"With