american shoppers dramatically reined in spending in february compared with the start of the year amid persistently high inflation but the clubs defensive retail stocks from discounter costco wholesale cost to coffeemaker starbucks sbux should continue to attract consumers in an increasingly volatile economic environment us retail sales fell 04 in february monthonmonth the commerce department reported wednesday in a sharp turnaround from januarys 32 gain  februarys decline was driven by a fall in auto sales along with reduced spending at restaurants and bars the retail figures come a day after the labor department said consumer prices rose 04 in february  bringing the annual inflation rate to 6 thats a drop from the previous months 64 yearoveryear rise but still well above the federal reserves 2 inflation target barclays on tuesday called out a more reluctant consumer with both high and lowerincome shoppers spending less on goods according to the banks most recent credit card data but spending on services barclays analysts found has been holding up credit card data from citi published wednesday showed total retail transactions and dollarspertransaction were down yearoveryear in the second week of march but us consumer spending was strongest in cosmetic stores according to citi that bodes well for club holding estee lauder el the usbased cosmetics firm is also poised to benefit from the nascent economic reopening in china where it does roughly a third of its business despite the pullback in spending there are seemingly some items consumers cant live without among wells fargos topfive hardline retail and restaurant picks club holding starbucks sbux on tuesday was named a top idea among defensive stocks the coffee giant is a global leader in a high growth category the bank said like estee lauder starbucks is also benefiting from renewed demand in china its secondlargest market after the us meanwhile ubs sees the warehouse retail segment as wellpositioned to ride out any further fallout in the financial sector following the collapse last week of silicon valley bank analysts wrote in a note tuesday they highlighted the resilience of wholesale retailer costco during the great recession of 20072009 if consumer credit tightens its likely that similar impacts would occur this time around they wrote the club take the recessionresistant retail stocks in our portfolio are wellpositioned to weather the current bout of economic turmoil thats why we added to our position in tjx companies tjx earlier wednesday the offprice retailer appeals to consumers looking for a discount on quality merchandise particularly in a slowdown similarly costco is a perfect retailer to own in an uncertain economy given it runs a volumebased business that continually offers low prices to its members were also pleased to see that cosmetics purchases are holding up beauty is somewhat defensive because people still want to look their best even when the economy is faltering and luxury cosmetics group estee lauder is a top destination highend coffee retailer starbucks also continues to attract customers despite the steep prices of its popular beverages we expect growth at both of those holdings to not only remain resilient in the us but continue to be bolstered by a resurgent chinese economy see here for a full list of the stocks in jim cramers charitable trust as a subscriber to the cnbc investing club with jim cramer you will receive a trade alert before jim makes a trade jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trusts portfolio if jim has talked about a stock on cnbc tv he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade the above investing club information is subject to our terms and conditions and privacy policy  together with our disclaimer  no fiduciary obligation or duty exists or is created by virtue of your receipt of any information provided in connection with the investing club no specific outcome or profit is guaranteed