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Consumer spending drops in April
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumer spending dropped 0.2% in April 2013, according to the Commerce Department.
It was the first monthly decline since May of last year and follows increases of 0.1% in March and 0.8% in February. Falling gas prices in April were part of the reason for the drop in spending, with purchases of gas, electricity and other energy goods and services down 4.4%.
In addition, increased Social Security deductions in consumer paychecks may have also contributed to the decline in spending.
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PBteen heads to SoCal this summer
SAN FRANCISCO — Parent company Williams-Sonoma said that its PBteen banner will open its first store in southern California, at The Oaks Mall in Thousand Oaks Saturday, June 1.
The store will be anchored around a PBteen Design Lab, where teens and their parents can engage with the brand and its products by digitally creating a personalized room on a computer monitor. Using drag and drop technology, teens can experiment with different room configurations and color combinations and see it come to life on a television screen overhead.
