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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                        Robyn Morrow             Chris Elliott                        Mark Suarez
                                               John Arterbury       Caitlin Cuppernull

Spending trends on V-Day speak numbers

Buying that perfect gift. Making the right moves. Preparing and organizing that flawless dinner to accompany that perfect someone. Valentine's day can be demanding. It can also turnout out to be expensive and ultimately unavoidable.

There's no guarantee the box of chocolates and the rose will work, so for the results Valentine hopefuls have shown a trend in chucking out the big bucks, well at least the men have. 

Ignoring the adage of "You can't buy love", a study compiled by about.com said that men spent an average of $67 dollars more on the day of love than their female counterparts in 2006. 

Yes, men spent an average of $138.67 on Valentine's Day, and a considerable amount of that money towards items other than the usual suspects. Digital cameras, iPod accessories and gift cards are slowly becoming the way to go, for that extra yard or two.

This year those averages are expected to slightly increase, so the big electronic giants Best Buy and Circuit City are licking their chops. But that doesn't mean the oldies are dead.

A poll by emarketer.com, discovered that 65 percent of small business owners that sell flowers, jewelry, chocolates and greetings cards expect sales to increase significantly from 2006.

In fact, in 2006 65 percent of consumers purchased greeting cards for Valentine's Day, 38 percent bought candy, while 32 percent purchased flowers, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. 

In the report, the U.S. Census Bureau discovered how many Valentine's cards were sold through Hallmark research. 

So, most people must still figure that it's the thought that counts. The sales charts on cards don't lie, but it's not what the buyer thinks. It's all about the person on the other end. It all depends if he or she is in with the electronic trend, or if the old school candy and flowers does the trick.