High-income consumers are trading down, Gen Z is spending less, and low-income shoppers are still struggling, according to many consumer companies that shared their latest quarterly results in recent weeks.

Those trends may not bode well for the big-box and mall retailers that have yet to report their earnings. That is, unless the strength of their brands — or high-income consumers who see their products as a good deal — help them transcend the gloomier consumer climate.

While the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tracker is projecting 4% U.S. GDP growth in the third quarter, there are cracks showing in the economy. Earlier this month, U.S. consumer sentiment slipped to near record lows, fueled by concerns about higher prices and the federal government shutdown. Plus, private data sources show

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