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Retailers Seek to Score Green by Celebrating the Red, White and Blue

Spending on Fourth of July cookouts and other related activities looks strong.

Published

4 months ago

June 30, 2026

Shop! Association

Photo illustration: Svetlana-Cherruty/iStock by Getty Images

While Independence Day is not a gift-driven holiday like Christmas or Valentine’s Day, it is nonetheless a major spending event for such items as food, alcohol, fireworks, retail (especially patriotic merch), travel and hospitality, a report by fintech firm Plus 500 notes. And this year the Fourth of July holiday has two added boosts: it marks the nation’s 250^th birthday (known more formally as the U.S. Semiquincentennial), and it falls on a Saturday, translating into a three-day vacation for many celebrants.

So, what’s the spending outlook for the Fourth this time around? It looks to be a strong – but not off-the-charts – year for such expenditures, totaling about $15 billion, several published reports indicate. And according to the National Retail Federation, the biggest part of that total will be the $9.4 billion spent on food. While that figure is up a half-billion dollars from last year, it’s till just short of the record $9.5 billion that was spent in 2023. (The NRF began teaming with Prosper Insights & Analytics to track spending data for the holiday in 2003.)

Some other notable highlights from the federation’s annual survey, which gathered responses from 7,675 consumers between June 1-June 8 and has a margin of error of +/- 1.1%.

Per-person spending on food items will hit a record high of $94.41.
The top four activities this year are: cookouts, barbecues and picnics (62%); fireworks/community celebrations (44%); travel/vacation (13%); and attending a parade (12%)
87% of consumers plan to celebrate the Fourth of July.
33% Of those celebrating plan to purchase additional patriotic items.

Click here for more from the NRF on spending patterns for the Fourth.