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Like every other industry, retail is up against a fragile economy, with slow growth forecast for well into the first half of 2012. The good news is that the unemployment rate has been decreasing, and consumers have begun dipping into their savings to spend: a sign that either consumer confidence is rising or that they just want to reward themselves for saving so aggressively the past few years.
But food-service retailers and others point out that the increased cost of commodities, everything from coffee to bread to paper products, is problematic.
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