A new survey shows a continuing powerful consumer movement

A new survey shows a continuing powerful consumer movement towards discount retailers and wholesale clubs - even as overall consumer spending is rising for the first time in nearly a year.

The May 6-14 survey of 4,403 consumers focused on spending patterns for the next 90 days - and Costco (+9) and Wal-Mart (+6) once again led all other retail outlets in terms of future spending growth.

This is the third consecutive survey since February that has uncovered strong results for Costco and Wal-Mart, highlighting a   MBT Tariki continued large-scale movement towards discount retailers that's being driven by high inflation and - until recently - a slower spending environment.

But here's the kicker. The retail shopping transformation we're seeing doesn't appear to be a short-term phenomenon. Rather, it has the all trappings of a consumer revolution that's continuing to pick up steam.

Case in point -- spending has finally MBT Kimondo GTX,begun to improve, but consumers are continuing to shun the mall retailers for the discount chains and wholesale shopping clubs.

Just as importantly, while some of the news in our survey is surprisingly good -- much of it is still bad and even downright ugly.

First The Good News

For the first time since June 2007 we're seeing a consumer spending uptick. It's only a slight one and overall spending still looks decidedly gloomy, but the 90-day outlook is not quite as terrible as it was MBT Chapa,  our previous consumer spending survey in April 2008.

Two-in-five U.S. respondents (40%) now say they'll spend less over the next 90 days than they did a year ago - 2-pts better than in our April survey. Another 28% say they'll spend more - a full 3-pts better than previously.