South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
PANDEMIC POSH
The pricey luxuries people are spending big bucks on
If retail therapy is a remedy for the coronavirus, then some South Floridians must be close to a cure.
Those with lots of disposable income have been going on a major spending spree for sports cars, fancy watches, country club memberships and home upgrades.
Even as unemployment numbers rise, the stock market has been very good for others, and they are indulging.
“People are treating themselves because instead of going on a trip. They wanted a memorable piece of jewelry that could make up for that trip. They’re coming in to treat themselves to a little ‘me’ time,” says Ann Marie Dunn from J.R. Dunn Jewelers in Lighthouse Point.
At the Arsenale in the Miami Design District — where entertainers, royalty and trust funders shop — sales went through the roof in September.
“We went from no traffic to our best month ever,” says Pat Meignan, the CEO and founder. “Our merch is everything from $80 for hoodies, T-shirts and caps to $2 million for a submarine.”
Meignan recently sold rap artist Lil
Pump a Gucci bike for around $25,000. “Lil Pump’s manager, he’s calling me at 9 a.m. saying he wants a Gucci bike,” Meignan recalls. “Lil Pump was so happy. He was like a kid who has everything.”
A week later Meignan says they sold several boats, each costing seven figures, to Arab royalty.
Even commoners are feeling a little luxe these days.
“They feel that they deserve a little boost,” explains Dr. Raquel Bild-Libbin, a psychologist in Miami Beach. “They need to be rewarded for all the sacrifices that they are making at this time.”
William Luther, an assistant professor in Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business, says that, counter-intuitively, even people of modest incomes may have come out better financially, at least in the short run.
“Low income households benefited from many of the programs [such as] unemployment benefits and getting stimulus checks, all at the same time,” says Luther, an expert on business cycles.
So, no matter the size of the bank account, people want to indulge.
“With wealthy people … they rationalize
[spending] as they are helping the economy with these purchases, that they are helping other people,” Bild-Libbin says. “And for some people … that have actually been able to save money because they are not spending it on all the other things that they normally spend money on … now we have more disposable income to do some activities or projects that are within our means.
“I think those are important words to use: within our means. For some it’s dinner at home with family. For others it’s buying a boat.”
For those with the means, here’s what they seem to be spending big bucks on during this pandemic.