Retailers Start Year With a Bang
The holiday season extended into January for many retailers,
as consumers flooded stores with gift cards to take advantage
of clearance sales. Retail industry sales for January increased
a solid 7.6 percent over last year and rose a seasonally adjusted
2 percent over December, according to the National Retail Federation
(Washington).
”The spectacular growth we saw in January was an unexpected
surprise for the industry,” said Rosalind Wells, the
federation’s chief economist. “While our 2006
outlook for the retail industry remains cautious, consumers
responded well to the popularity of gift cards, mild winter
weather and aggressive clearance sales. We expect to see a
continuation of the heavily promotional environment.”
January retail sales figures released by the U.S. Commerce
Department on Feb. 14 show that total retail sales (which
include non-general merchandise categories such as autos,
gasoline stations and restaurants) rose a seasonally adjusted
2.3 percent over December and increased 8.9 percent unadjusted
year-over-year.
The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest
retail trade association, representing all retail formats
and channels of distribution including department, specialty,
discount, catalog, Internet and independent stores. [April
2006 PET AGE]
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