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Local retailers optimistic after slow sales weekend nationally
By TOM McPARLAND
YOUNGSTOWN
While stores across the country opened their doors earlier than ever this year, total retail sales and individual spending slid last weekend, marking a slow start to the holiday retail season.
According to a national survey commissioned by the National Retail Federation, total sales for the four days beginning Nov. 28 fell to $57.4 billion, a 2.7 percent decrease from last year. And while total traffic in stores and online ticked up a modest 1.2 percent to 141 million this year, the average consumer spent just $407, down 3.9 percent from 2012.
But in Ohio, many retailers remain optimistic, expecting increased sales this holiday season.
A survey conducted by the Economics Center at the University of Cincinnati predicted a 3.5 percent increase in retail sales in November and December. That number was slightly lower than the National Retail Federation’s projection of a 3.9 percent jump across the country.
“We’re holding firm” on that sales forecast, said Gordon Gough, president and CEO of the Ohio Council of Retail Merchants.
Many retailers kicked off the shopping weekend Thursday evening this year, driving more than 44.8 million, a nearly 27 percent increase, to stores and malls across the country on Thanksgiving Day. But traffic slowed over the rest of the weekend, with fewer shoppers participating in the holiday sales Saturday and Sunday than a year ago.
Eastwood Mall in Niles opened two hours earlier than last year, and it stayed open from 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving to 10 p.m. Friday.
Joe Bell, a spokesman for the mall’s operator, Cafaro Co., said the adjusted hours helped create an early Thanksgiving Day rush at the mall that lasted until about 2 a.m. Friday.
“That spread things out in terms of the crowd,” he said, giving people more time to shop.
But it also took a chunk out of sales on what is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
“It didn’t create a massive crush on Black Friday,” he said, adding that the mall remained “extremely busy” throughout the weekend.
Retail numbers for the weekend after Thanksgiving are closely watched across the country as an indicator of consumer spending during an important season for retailers.
But many retail outlets started their holiday sales before Thanksgiving this year.
Local brick-and-mortar stores will face rising competition from online retailers.
Online sales increased over the past weekend, with consumers spending $177 on average in retail purchases, a 3 percent spike from 2012. Almost 55 percent of consumers surveyed said they planned to continue their online shopping on Cyber Monday, traditionally known as a lucrative day for online retail sales.
In Ohio, Gough said retail stores are investing in online strategies to bolster sales. He said he expects to see a significant jump in online retail this year.
“It’s the first time the online segment is going to be greater than other segments,” he said.
The early sales, combined with a late Thanksgiving, “put a dent in Black Friday sales” this year, Gough said.
As the holiday shopping season progresses, Bell said he expects to see improved sales and a “steady stream that doesn’t have the spikes” of the past weekend.
“We’re going to see increased sales over last year,” he said.