Comparing a sweetheart to a summer’s day may be one of the last pieces of lovemaking available without a price tag.
Valentine’s Day–a holiday with origins in a third-century beheading, stoning and ritualized beating of a recalcitrant priest–is today a $18.6 billion event. For retailers, it’s the first bit of pleasantness since Christmas; the period between the two holidays is usually marked by a lull and few shoppers. More than $4 billion will be spent on jewelry alone, at places like Tiffany and Signet. And, according to the National Retail Federation, an equal number of shoppers will head to department stores (a boon for Macy’s and J.C. Penney’s) as to discount outlets. Though, we pity the lover who shops exclusively at Wal-Mart.
