"I just really think that's important, especially this year, with people down on their luck," said Johnston, who plans to spend a couple of hundred dollars on gifts. "If you are in a position to help, I think you should."
At a time when retail sales are expected to be weak, some stores are aligning themselves with nonprofits in a bid to get consumers to feel better about spending money again.
For example, the owners of Tennessee Cheesecake donate
10 percent of each sale to Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee when they sell a $24 gourmet pumpkin cheesecake.
"We thought this was a good way for us to help and for our customers to give back a little bit," said Will Wilson, vice president of Tennessee Cheesecake. This is the first year the company has partnered with Second Harvest. "It's hard to feel bad about buying a cheesecake."
Or consider this. A consumer can pay $25 to join department store Macy's "Thanks for Sharing" program, and the retail chain will donate $10 of that payment to charity. The shopper then gets 10 percent off other holiday purchases.
"I think it aligns well with the times," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of The Luxury Institute, a retail research outfit. "It does relieve the guilt (of spending money) or the feeling you're being insensitive to people who have so much less."
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