Industry website Retail Dive notes that younger people are more burdened by student loan debt, meaning that they are frugal during what should be their highest-spending years.
"It's slated to get worse as retailers find that millennials in their thirties are hampered by debt in what should be their highest-spending years," writes Daphne Howland at RetailDive.com.
Student debt could be part of the reason sales are contracting at department store retailers like Macy's, Sears, Nordstrom, and Kohl's. O'Shea told Bloomberg that off-price retailers like TJ Maxx are thriving because consumers have less money to spend on clothing.
