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The big dollars in Mother’s Day

May 8, 2015

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Mother’s Day is this Sunday (you still have time to buy a card). And, it’s become a big money holiday.

According to the National Retail Federation’s annual survey, the average American family will spent $172.63 celebrating their matriarch. That’s up almost $10 from a year ago.

Total spending on American mothers: $21.2 billion.

Where will that money go? A whole bunch of places. According to NRF:

Eighty percent of family members will buy Mom a card, spending more than $786 million.

More than two-thirds will buy flowers, spending a collective $2.4 billion.

There will be about $1.9 billion spent on clothing, up $200,000 from 2014.

About one-third of Mother’s Day shoppers say they plan to buy jewelry, spending a survey high of $4.3 billion for the holiday, up from 31.7 percent and $3.6 billion last year.

For story ideas, just check the card section of your local drug store or Target. Sometime Saturday afternoon, there’s likely to be feeding frenzy.

Here’s a look at this week’s most famous new mother.

Author

  • Micheline Maynard

    Micheline is a contributing columnist at the Washington Post concentrating on business and culture. She has written about flooding in Detroit, tainted water in Benton Harbor, nationwide shortages of restaurant staff, and vaccine hesitancy.

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