New Year's resolution By Jan Teague, President/CEO
I like giving the media good news and try to find ways to say how retailers are doing that is upbeat. But recently that has been a very hard message to convey. Here we are, entering the New Year in a month that is typically slow. People are paying off their Christmas bills and taking a deep breath in January.
This week I talked to one of my small members who caters to women. Her sales were down over 20 percent this December from last year. She said to me: "Christmas wouldn't exist without women!" With the snow piling up, women just didn't go out. They were stuck at home, not shopping. I thought about it and decided she was right. Even from an empirical perspective, women are the shoppers. They are often the family financial planners, the ones who shop for groceries and pay the bills. Combine the snow with the economy and you have the worst ever retail Christmas season.
But as we talked about her year, it was clear that the entire year was not lost. There were some very good months for her small business. While the holidays were dismal, the first half of the year wasn't bad at all. Yes, the last quarter is a significant one, but it doesn't make up the entire year's picture.
So for my New Year's resolution: The retail industry will have robust sales of winter merchandise in January to clear their shelves. Women will decide to brighten up in anticipation of the spring season and have a renewed spirit that finds them laughing, talking to friends in the malls, and shopping with their families again.
Good Cheers to you all!
Malls report holiday sales drop off
Last week's snowstorms capped a tough holiday sales year for some western Washington shopping malls.
In an anonymous survey, Washington Retail Association mall members reported that a weak holiday sales period drove their annual sales results down from nearly 9 percent to 12 percent compared to 2008.
An encouraging sign was that post-Christmas crowds swelled as snows melted and shoppers came out in search of bargains and to cure the cabin fever they suffered during the storms, mall managers said. Some mall managers said they hoped to make up part of their lost sales from the large post-Christmas crowds, but returned items also were likely to temper sales.
Seattle's KOMO TV reported the pre-Christmas snowstorms were the worst to hit the region since 1861. They hit during a holiday season that was shorter than last year's and soured by a slowing national and state economy.
One mall manager estimated that about 7 percent more shoppers visited his facility this year but he said most of the shoppers were inclined to be looking rather than buying. Another said the region's snowfall created a "perfect storm" of factors to damage holiday sales because shoppers decided to stay home rather than shop.
The International Council of Shopping Centers reported the worst holiday sales decline in at least the past four decades and predicted that unidentified retailers would be closing their doors the first half of 2009 as a result.
Based on this year's slow sales, the ICSC is predicting that 73,000 retail stores nationwide will close the first half of 2009.
Apparel and electronics were some of the hardest hit retail categories, slipping 19.7 percent and 26.7 percent nationally in sales, according to SpendingPulse, which tracks holiday sales.
Sources include Reuters and CNBC.com
Retailers ask Obama for tax holidays
The National Retail Federation has asked President-elect Barack Obama to incorporate three tax holiday periods in 2009 to help stimulate the economy and sales.
Under the proposal, the federal government would reimburse states for lost revenues for 10-day tax holidays in March, July and October. The NRF estimates the proposal, if enacted, would save the average family $175 in taxes.
The slowing national economy needs help, the NRF said in a letter to Obama.
"The situation is critical," the NRF said. "In October, consumer confidence was at its lowest level in the 41 years that records have been kept. This is due, as you know, to a disastrous combination of decreasing home values, increasing unemployment, reduced availability of credit, failures of major companies, and weakness in the stock market. Moreover, it does not appear that these concerns will abate any time soon. With consumer spending accounting for 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, it is difficult to foresee an improvement in overall economic growth until the consumers retain their footing."
State Rep. Steve Hailey (R-Mesa) lost his battle with colon cancer this week. He was 63.
House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt announced Hailey's death, which happened early Sunday.
Hailey announced a year ago that he was battling colon cancer. The farmer and rancher earlier this month announced he would resign from the Legislature to focus on his treatments. He had planned to step down on Jan. 11, the day before the next session of the Legislature convenes.
County commissioners in Hailey's district will choose his successor from three nominees of local Republican Party officials.
Source: Seattle Times
Businesses urged to consider snow damage reports
Businesses harmed by the recent winter storms are being urged to report damages to local emergency management offices.
The state could qualify for loans from the Small Business Administration if enough businesses report drops in sales due to snow damage, the Emergency Management Division of the Washington Military Department reported. County emergency management managers must submit damage assessments to the state by Feb. 13, the military department reported.
Contact your local emergency management office by clicking here.
The one-page economic injury loan form can be found by clicking here.
Source: Washington Military Department
Weather, traffic alerts on the Internet
State government Websites can be helpful to commuters worried about traffic conditions due to winter weather.
Three Department of Transportation sites are particularly helpful.
A debate is likely to be revisited in the Legislature over what should be the official state candy.
Rep. Mike Armstrong, (R-Wenatchee) told the Wenatchee World he plans to introduce a bill this coming session designating Aplets & Cotlets, made in Cashmere, as the officials state candy. Earlier bills to name Aplets & Cotlets and Tacoma's Almond Roca candy as official state confections have failed in the Legislature.
According to the World, a group of Centralia students lobbied Armstrong to put forward his latest bill.
On another front, Rep. Mark Miloscia (D-Federal Way) tells The Tacoma News Tribune he plans to introduce a bill that would allow state law enforcement authorities to collect DNA samples from everyone arrested on felony charges. Current state law requires DNA samples only from convicted criminals.
The Legislature took no action on a similar Miloscia bill in 2005.
Sources: Wenatchee World, Tacoma News Tribune
WRA Website adds new features
If you haven't visited the Washington Retail Association's Website recently, please take another look.
We're putting more information onto the site more frequently as we near the next Legislative session. The quicker pace of additions to the site will continue through the next session and beyond.
A new right-hand column on the homepage now includes periodic video and audio updates on important issues, recent news developments of importance to retailers and several Internal Revenue Service business-related links to help retailers prepare for the upcoming tax season.
Our hope is that WRA members and the public at large will increasingly rely on the Website to keep abreast as issues related to retailers and their well-being surface or change.
And, of course, we invite your feedback and suggestions.
Please contact Jim Szymanski, Director of Public Affairs, with any thoughts you have regarding the additions to the site or further changes you believe might be useful. You can reach Jim either at 360-943-9198, Extension 12 or at jim.szymanski@retailassociation.org.
The Washington Retail Association, WRA, is a 501 C 6 trade association formed to advocate for Washington State’s retailers at the local, state and national level. Since 1987, the WRA has protected Washington's retailers from unreasonable taxes, fees, regulations and legislation. The efforts of the WRA benefit all Washington state retailers and help fuel statewide economic growth.
