Frugal Frontier: Retailers Face Reality That Some Shoppers Can't Trade Back Up

``Retailers are coming to terms with a new reality: the consumer who traded down during the recession and never came back... Heading into the holidays, retailers are in a bind. Many of them placed their orders back in early spring when the stock market was rising and the economy appeared to still be rebounding. But lackluster back-to-school sales signal that the holidays aren't likely to be free-spending for many shoppers. Now retailers are worried they will have too much merchandise.''