Think back, dear consumer, to your old life, and see how dramatically things have changed in a year: Must-have-it-now was your pre-meltdown mantra. Parsimony was for punks. And like many Americans, you acted as if you were competing to win the shopping version of Wing Bowl.

Those $1,500 handbags you used to buy because your 401(k) made you feel rich?

History.

The shiny new car or SUV you just had to replace every three years?

Buh-bye showroom. Hello, old neighborhood mechanic.

You're not the only one in withdrawal. Your ways are causing pain in retail boardrooms and back shops far and wide, where business has gone from 60-to-0 in about 12 months flat.

A year ago, high gasoline prices shocked shoppers out of stores. But retail imploded last fall when the stock market crashed. Merchants have been in a skintight squeeze ever since.

By stashing money into mattresses for months, consumers have taken a mountain-size chunk out of the retail economy, which accounts for two-thirds of economic activity in this country.

The ripple effects of this new frugality are abundant, from rising vacancies in malls and shopping centers to turmoil at the biggest local retail outfits:

Privately owned Boscov's Department Store L.L.C., of Reading, declared bankruptcy in August. It reemerged around Christmas with fewer stores, fewer employees, and a return of retired leader Albert Boscov to the chief executive officer's job to keep the 39-store chain on course for survival.

Publicly traded Charming Shoppes Inc., of Bensalem, ousted its chief executive, closed stores, and is trying to maneuver out of the red zone (negative profits) with new managers and new fashions for its plus-size and discount women's apparel stores.

Destination Maternity Corp., of Philadelphia, is pruning its store network, has renamed some of its shops, and has laid off headquarters staff as part of a restructuring aimed at simplifying and cutting expenses at the publicly traded company.

Even Wall Street darling Urban Outfitters Inc., of Philadelphia, which seemed recession-proof just a year ago, has seen sales slide at its upscale Anthropologie and Free People stores, despite doing better overall than the competition.

This new, in-reverse world of retailing follows decades during which companies grew huge on Americans' insatiable buying. Shoppers gorged on credit - the same kind of easy borrowing that helped retailers get big loans to buy competitors and add stores.

"This whole recession has caused people to pause and reevaluate their values," said Natalie W. Nixon, professor of fashion-industry management at Philadelphia University.

And with far fewer customers now, many companies are shedding unprofitable stores, laying off employees, and selling assets to generate cash as profits and sales have plummeted.

"That kind of scaling back, that trimming down that individuals are having to do, is a microcosmic reflection of what these corporations are needing to do," Nixon said.

Companies have canceled new store openings, renegotiated rents, and slashed inventory.

The contraction could be prolonged if, as some analysts say they believe, consumers are shifting permanently toward higher saving rates.

"We're still going to see some stores going out of business," said Stephen J. Hoch, director of the Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. "It's amazing that everybody just kept opening up more and more stores and more people didn't start having problems even when things were OK."