• USA Today, Wednesday, April 21, 2010 12:16 PM

Americans' new penchant for penny-pinching is forcing high-end retailers such as Whole Foods and Starbucks to change the way that they do business, Bruce Horovitz reports. Whole Foods now touts weekly sales, for example. And Starbucks, home to $4 specialty brews, now also offers a basic cup of joe for $1.50.

But they're not alone in appealing to our parsimonious leanings. Renewals at warehouse club Costco are booming, Dannon is offering monthly sales on best-sellers, Denny's has rolled out a nationwide value menu and Morton's steakhouse offers three mini-burgers at its bar for $5.

NPD Group says that the number of consumers who buy most of their products on sale has risen from 48% to 53% during the past three years, and nearly seven in 10 consumers shop in a discount, big-volume or off-price store compared with five in 10 shoppers three years ago. "This is a trend that is marathon," says NPD Group chief industry analyst Marshal Cohen. "Consumers are buying on need, not desire -- and they're trading down."

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