Majority of Retailers Anticipate Growth During 2007 Holiday Shopping Season

ALBANY, NY (11/01/2007)(readMedia)-- More than three-quarters of retailers believe their sales during the upcoming holiday shopping season will be at least as good or better than last year’s, a survey of Retail Council of New York State members revealed. The Council is the state’s largest retail trade association, representing 5,000 stores of all size and variety from national chains to independent Main Street merchants.

Each year, the Retail Council conducts its Holiday Sales Watch, a survey of members between Thanksgiving and Christmas, to track retail sales and trends. To kick off the 2007 assessment, the Council conducted a Holiday Season Forecast survey to get a sampling of what members believe the season holds in store for New York state retailers. The survey was mailed to Retail Council members in mid-September.

When asked whether they anticipated 2007 holiday season sales to be better than, worse than or the same as last year’s holiday season, members’ responses varied, with the majority of survey participants expressing a positive outlook:

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“The forecast for the holiday selling season is bright with 78 percent of respondents telling us they believe their sales will be better than or about the same as last year,” said James R. Sherin, president and chief executive officer of the Retail Council. “Despite negativity on the part of many economic analysts and prognosticators in advance of the holiday season, our members appear to be upbeat and have realistic expectations of what lay ahead.”

Participants who believe this season will be better than last year’s generally identify personal business achievements, such as improved marketing, as sales generators. These achievements include advertising, reward programs, new products, redesigned stores and successfully soliciting sales out in the field. One merchant cited local support as a key factor, commenting, “We have worked hard to build local sales that we hope will be better than previous years.”

Other respondents less optimistic about the shopping season pointed to high energy costs and a struggling economy (defined by some as high taxes, a shortage of disposable income and increased cost of living and goods) as reasons why their retail businesses and others may not fare as well this holiday season.

Survey participants also cited competition from online sales and location issues, such as parking and traffic, as reasons why their sales might be soft in 2007. Most retailers agree the weather will, as usual, be a major factor for sales this season. They are hoping for the right mix of cold temperatures and a bit of snow, without gridlocking storms, to put consumers into a holiday shopping frame of mind.

Retail Council members were also asked if they planned on hiring more, less or the same number of holiday season employees as last year. Nearly 90 percent responded they will most likely hire the same or more as last year.

In addition to this forecast survey, the Retail Council will poll members three additional times via telephone between Black Friday and the week after Christmas to gauge retail sales and trends. A schedule of Holiday Sales Watch news releases will be available to the media the week of Nov. 19. Visit www.retailcouncilnys.com for the latest updates on the Retail Council and its Holiday Sales Watch.

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