Nearly 240 years ago the United States congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 2nd and after a few revisions the final version was officially adopted on the 4th of July. Our forefathers celebrated the independence with fireworks, bells, and whistles.
While these traditions have continued to be apart of the annual celebration, the holiday has developed into much more. The National Retail Federation recently did a study on 4th of July consumer buying habits and what American’s will be doing to celebrate.
Here’s what they had to say:
- An estimated 214 million people plan to celebrate the Fourth of July
- $6.8 billion will be spent on food items for independence day, about $71.34 per household
- Nearly 2/3 plan to attend a cookout, barbecue or picnic
- 25.4% plan on purchasing patriotic merchandise for the holiday
Here’s some other fun facts about the 4th of July:
- It is estimated that there will be 14,000 fireworks displays on the 4th of July
- IBISWorld expects retail sales of consumer fireworks to reach $710 million during this holiday season
- 150 million hot dogs will be consumed – enough to span D.C. to L.A. over five times
- 700 million pounds of chicken will be purchased
- Over 22.8 million cases of beer were sold in 2014 during Fourth of July weekend, including two million cases of craft beer and these numbers are expected to shoot even higher in 2016, due in part to a marketing campaign by Anheuser-Busch
- 41.9M of Americans will travel at least 50 miles for the holiday
- The annual “Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest” on the 4th has a high record of 69 hot dogs eaten in 10 minutes – that adds up to a whopping 20,010 calories, 1,173 grams of fat and 48,990 milligrams of sodium 48 million will go shopping for red, white, and blue items
- Macy’s 4th of July show in New York City is the largest display in the country, consisting of over 56,000 effects and celebrating its 40th Anniversary this year – the city expects 3 million people will watch this year’s show
Although there is much celebrating to be done and good food to be eaten this 4th of July, we again cannot forget to take time to be thankful for our freedom and to appreciate the sacrifices people have made to give us the independence we have today. For those military members and their families, we thank you. So do many retailers across the US, so make sure to look for the exclusive discounts this weekend! From all of us at SheerID, have a fun-filled and safe holiday weekend!
