Shoppers in Los Angeles are turning to more affordable brands, seeking deals and making their own presents to save money this holiday season, as many tighten their purse strings in anticipation of a weak economy.

The average projected holiday spend by Los Angeles shoppers was $1,627, according to Deloitte’s 2025 holiday retail survey. That’s above the national average but a 14% dip from 2024.

“What we’re hearing is that shoppers here in the L.A. metro area — and nationwide — are feeling uncertain about where the economy is headed,” said Rebecca Lohrey, Deloitte audit and assurance partner.

Californians have struggled more than residents of most other states with the stubbornly high price of housing. At the same time, the often-changing tariff regime coming out of Washington has consumers concerned that prices will continue to rise.

Widespread and high-profile job cuts in the tech industry, which has for decades been one of the state’s most reliable employers, have also helped shake consumer confidence. Some consumers surveyed by KPMG earlier in the year had planned to spend more this holiday season, in part, to get ahead of inflation.

Three-quarters of the shoppers surveyed expect higher prices on holiday goods, and 62% of Los Angeles shoppers expect the economy to weaken in the year ahead, nearly twice as many as a year earlier.

“L.A. shoppers are more likely to hunt for deals, give homemade gifts, reuse wrapping and use tools like social media and AI to plan their purchases,” Lohrey said. “Even with tighter budgets, they’re finding smart, creative ways to make the season joyful without overspending.”

Tariffs, inflation and geopolitical shifts are causing severe economic uncertainty for consumers.

Nationally, 57% of those surveyed expected the U.S. economy to weaken in the next six months, the most negative outlook since Deloitte started tracking economic sentiment in 1997.

This echoes what big box retailers and consumer goods giants have been saying. In August, Walmart said that as it replenishes inventory at tariff prices, it has continued to see costs increase each week, which it expects to continue through the end of the year. PepsiCo said it was introducing products at a cheaper price as consumer budgets remain constrained.

“Not surprisingly, we see more adjustments in middle- and lower-income households than we do with higher-income households,” Douglas McMillon, Walmart’s chief executive, said in an earnings call.

With consumers becoming more value-conscious, the Deloitte survey found that 88% of L.A. shoppers are seeking deals, and 78% are opting for affordable brands and retailers.

This has also meant that about 35% of L.A. shoppers plan on turning to generative AI tools to compare and find the best deals and generate shopping lists.

Consumer price inflation in Los Angeles stood at 3.5% in September compared with the previous year, higher than the national average of 3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With price increases, 6 in 10 local shoppers are turning to gift cards instead of gifts this holiday season, willing to spend an average of $268 on the cards.

Clothing and accessories are the top categories for those L.A. shoppers who say they’ll self-gift this year.

The owners of Crypto.com Arena and L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles have filed plans with the city to potentially add another tower to their multibillion-dollar sports and entertainment complex.

AEG last week proposed a 49-story high-rise that would hold a hotel, residences, bars and restaurants.

The tower would rise across Olympic Boulevard from L.A. Live on a corner lot on Georgia Street now used by AEG for parking.

Many planned residential and other commercial projects in Los Angeles have stalled prior to construction in recent years as developers face economic headwinds, including unfavorable interest rates and rising costs of materials and labor.

AEG, too, will not be breaking ground on this project in the near future, a company representative said.

The company’s recent land-use application, which outlined the plans, is just a “first step for a potential development” on the company’s property at 917 W. Olympic Blvd., spokesman Michael Roth said. “AEG remains optimistic about downtown’s long-term prospects and is positioning the site for future development when conditions improve.”

The application calls for a large-scale development with 364 dwelling units and 334 hotel rooms.

The 783,427-square-foot building would also include bars and restaurants on levels 1, 5 and 6, along with a restaurant/nightclub on the eighth floor.

Residents and hotel guests would share an amenity deck with a restaurant, bar, pool, spa, club room, fitness area and a dining terrace. The complex would have 666 parking spaces.

In September, the City Council approved a $2.6-billion expansion of the Convention Center despite warnings from its advisors that the project would draw taxpayer funds away from essential city services for decades to come. Mayor Karen Bass and a majority of the council believe that the project will create thousands of jobs and boost tourism and business activity, making the city more competitive on the national stage.

The new construction will connect the two existing south and west exhibit halls by adding 190,000 square feet of space to create one contiguous hall with more than 750,000 square feet, and will add 39,000 square feet of meeting room space and 95,000 square feet of multipurpose space.

AEG is advising the developer, Plenary Americas, on the project.

Los Angeles-based AEG is one of the world’s biggest venue and event companies, with more than 20,000 employees. The company was founded in 1995 when Denver billionaire investor Philip Anschutz bought the Los Angeles Kings, and in 1999 it opened the downtown arena then known as the Staples Center, now Crypto.com Arena.

Among AEG’s recent developments is the IG Arena in the outer citadel of Nagoya Castle in Nagoya, Japan, where sports and entertainment events, including sumo wrestling, are held.

Swiss drugmaker Novartis opened a new 10,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Carlsbad to make cancer drugs, as part of its promised $23 billion investment push to build out its domestic U.S. facilities over the next five years.

The plant will produce compounds needed for radioligand therapy (RLT), a form of precision medicine that enables the delivery of radiation directly on cancerous tumors while limiting damage to surrounding cells.

“Radioligand therapy is a breakthrough we’ve unlocked at scale, made possible by reimagining how innovation reaches patients,” said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. “As the global leader in RLT for more than seven years, we’ve advanced this technology with a deep belief in its power to transform cancer care.”

This Carlsbad manufacturing facility will be Novartis’ third radioligand therapy production site in the U.S., and will help meet future demand for doses for patients in western states and Hawaii.

“The opening of our Carlsbad facility underscores our strong commitment to the U.S. and dedication to bringing this pioneering treatment to patients across the country,” Narasimhan of Novartis said.

The firm said it was also expanding existing sites in North Carolina, Indiana and New Jersey.

The Trump administration has exerted political and regulatory pressure on pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices and increase domestic drug production through executive orders and threats of tariffs.

Some companies, such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have been engaged in public negotiations and struck deals to reduce the price of popular drugs such as Ozempic and Zepbound. Others, such as Novartis, have promised to beef up domestic investments.

In April, Novartis said it would invest $50 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, and has been setting up domestic supply chains for its high-margin business of radioligand therapy. Of this, $23 billion will be used to build and expand ten U.S. sites.

The company announced that it will set up additional radioligand therapy manufacturing facilities in Florida and Texas, and will establish its second global R&D hub in San Diego.

“We commend Novartis for supporting our broader mission of bringing manufacturing capacity in the United States,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a press release on Monday. “Our unique partnership approach is working.”