Complaining retailers, slumping surveys and downbeat data are all pointing to a flagging British consumer and even the Bank of England warned that spending could be headed for a prolonged slowdown.
The central bank expects that robust pay growth and a stabilising housing market could drive a recovery, admitting they may have been wrong to play down the links between house prices and consumer spending.
They had argued slowing house prices and modest interest rate hikes would not really alter homeowners' wealth. But such economic sophistry may not mean much to the average shopper.
Policymakers and economists alike are puzzled why a nation of consumers is suddenly shying away from shops.
"Why is it that there could have been this sharp slowdown in retail sales, particularly on consumer durables and semi-durables, from cars to clothes, goods in the High Street?" said BoE Governor Mervyn King.
"I don't know what the answer to that question is." His interest-rate setting committee said they were worried debt-laden homeowners could tighten their belts even further as they fret about the chances of house price falls and struggle to pay off loans after five interest increases in one-and-the-half years.
It also said higher borrowing costs, now at 4.75 per cent, may have hit consumers more than anticipated.
On top of that, disposable incomes have started to fall while household bills, petrol and food prices continue to rise. Shoppers say they are feeling the pinch.
"Prices are just ridiculous. It's absurd," said one lady shopping in west London. "My husband is now retired and it's getting very difficult. We are thinking of moving abroad."
Faced with relatively high labour and materials costs, Britain's retailers must make a tough choice between losing customers or cutting prices and slashing profits.
Although consumer confidence has so far held up, the latest shop surveys showed retail sales falling at their fastest pace since the early 1990s slump.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher Plc, general store Argos and music seller HMV Group Plc have all blamed slower sales on downbeat shoppers.
And it not just shops that are suffering. Pub and leisure group Whitbread warned of lacklustre spending while gym group LA Fitness Plc complained of falling membership.
"There are less people coming to Oxford Street," said Peter Compobassi, 53, a market trader on the capital's flagship shopping street. "The economy is on a downturn and the chickens are coming home to roost." Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour party won a historic straight third term last week mainly on the platform of a booming economy and solid public finances.
But the poll may have come just in time and economists say Finance Minister Gordon Brown will now have to raise taxes to keep things on track.
Higher taxes are just one fear stalking shoppers, already worried they could be caught short if their house price drops - a constant topic in Britain where most households own their own home and a new housing market survey comes out every two days.
A recent purchasing managers' index showed house building fell in April on weaker sales. Estate agent Countrywide has warned it expects to report a first-quarter loss as people's fears of further rate rises hurt the housing market.
"I don't think things are particularly pretty and happy right now," said Angela Backwell, 51, out shopping. "We would like to move house. Your one hand says yes to it and the other says nothing in your area is selling."
And to add to the gloom, more people say election bickering between parties over a possible pensions crisis further out has highlighted the need to swap spending for saving.
"Something like the pensions issue could become a bigger factor," said Alan Castle, UK economist at Lehman Brothers.
"There's a report coming out in the autumn which is presumably going to sound quite negative on the outlook for people's pensions. At the same time the whole issue of tax increases is not going to go away."