NOT PRETTY: According to a recent survey of today’s consumers, soaring gas prices, which have moderated in August, have caused 94% of Americans to make lifestyle changes in order to control costs. A startling 80% of consumers are foregoing some of their day-to-day activities and changing their spending habits. Atop the list: 82% are making a conscious effort to drive less, which means four out of five consumers are staying in their neighborhoods to shop. Abandoning extended drives in search of bargains, 57% are planning their routes more carefully, more gas-efficient. And, surprise, 24% are biking or walking more. Retailers should put a bike rack outside the store and a foot massager inside.

MORE: These next stats are less shopping-related but are indicative of the consumer psyche: 31% are only partially filling their gas tanks; 62% are dining out less; 19% are giving up heating and air conditioning; 18% are paying the minimum balance on credit cards, and nearly one out of 10 is stopping or cutting back on medications. The 62% dining at home are likely targets of flooring retailers; the more they stay home, the more they realize it’s time to change the floor. Two more significant results: More than 50% are unwilling to take road trips more than 100 miles, and gas prices are increasing the level of overall debt for 76% of Americans, who are using credit cards to pay for gas.

FACT SHEET: The Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI), with the help of Lew Migliore & Associates, has compiled a CRI fact sheet that Seal of Approval (SOA) participants will find useful in marketing their SOA-approved products. The glossary contains maintenance “horror stories” in which various facilities lost significant value in their carpet by having to replace it prematurely due to improper care and the use of bad products. Migliore is the author of The Claims File, a column that appears regularly in Floor Covering News. The CRI goal “is to educate enough consumers to the differences between SOA-approved and non-approved products that those within the program will see a real market shift toward their products. For more information and assistance with promoting your product, contact James Beach, CRI’s marketing director, at 706.428.2116, or email jbeach@carpet-rug.org.

MIXED BAG: Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then. So, if you read enough, you’re bound to find a small ray of sunshine, well, maybe a glimmer. According to the Associated Press, sales of existing homes rose 3.1% in July, easily beating Wall Street’s expectations, as buyers snapped up deeply discounted properties in parts of the country hit hardest by the housing bust. But, the number of unsold properties hit an all-time high, the latest reminder that the worst housing market slump in decades is far from over. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of five million units; they were expected to rise by only 1.6%, about half of the actual increase. The housing crisis is far from over, but we’ll always have July.

ON Q: At QFloors’ Annual Users Conference in Salt Lake City, we learned some interesting stats from the second largest provider of floor covering software. Of the 20,000+ floor covering retailers, 17.5% are using floor covering- specific computer software; 17.5% are using no software, and 65% are using QuickBooks or other off-the-shelf products. QFloors executives believe that with the proliferation of B2B operations and the younger generation entering the industry, already computer savvy, the 17.5% of users of floor covering- specific software can easily double in the next five years. That’s another nugget of good news.