Consumers look to spice up home meals in the recession

by Dani Fankhauser and Savannah Ziegelbauer
News.Medill.Northwestern.edu

The Spice House on North Wells Street hasn’t needed a special recipe to deal with the recession.

Traffic to the Illinois- and Wisconsin-based specialty spice store isn’t slowing, and sales are equally brisk among the business’s three main customer groups: restaurants, in-store and online.

On any given day, all six employees bustle about the shop, slowing only to offer guidance to customers filtering in and out.

Lonnie Romero, manager of the store, says that during the recession, they have noticed no difference in sales.

Some have attributed strong sales of this upscale good to a “lipstick effect,” in that someone will give up a nice vacation because of a tight budget, but will still buy small luxury items in order to feel better.

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