After two years of decline, retail sales in the Richmond area are bouncing back, especially in such hard-hit areas as furniture and electronics.
Taxable sales in Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico totaled $2.53 billion during the third quarter, a 1.5 percent increase compared with the same quarter in 2009. Sales data are compiled by the Virginia Department of Taxation.
Although the gain is modest, it is significantly better than the 7.7 percent third-quarter decline that occurred between 2008 and 2009.
Bob Broomfield, president of the Carytown Merchants Association and owner of the Play N Trade video game store there, said he has seen the tide start to turn.
“In Carytown last year, we have filled more stores and more restaurants, and that has created more traffic for us. Overall, yes, everyone had had a good year, especially heading into the Christmas season. We saw some really good traffic,” Broomfield said.
Broomfield said numbers were up at his own business, with a 23 percent increase in profit over the previous year.
Gary Weiner, president and CEO of Saxon Shoes, also said he’s seen improvement at his two stores.
“We definitely saw nice improvement in the third quarter,” Weiner said. “What we are feeling is a slight, steady uptick. Nothing to scream about, but it’s still an uptick.”
Weiner said it seems to him that consumers are willing to start to spend money on small personal items.
“Where they may not be able to buy a house, it’s a far cry from a pair of shoes,” Weiner said. “A pair of shoes is a good way to make your self feel good and by spending $30 to $60.”
Sales during the fourth quarter will have to hit $2.77 billion to come out ahead of the previous year, and that data won’t be available until later this year.
But the quarterly increase is a positive sign that consumers are opening their wallets a little bit more, and specific retail categories are seeing gains that they haven’t seen in years.
Connie Jordan Nielsen, a retail broker at Thalhimer, said the numbers confirm what she has seen in the field.
“We are hearing that same feedback from retailers who are happy with performance, and sales are up. Some are definitely loosening the tight reins they had on development or expansion,” Nielsen said.
Electronics and appliance stores in the area saw sales jump 22.37 percent, compared with a 40 percent drop in 2009.
Furniture stores collectively grew sales by 12.6 percent, compared with a 24 percent decline in 2009.
Restaurants increased sales as well, with a 7.83 percent jump over last year.
Nielsen said the boost in sales is a result of changing public perception of the economy.
“When [consumers] read and hear on the news that the economy is terrible and things are only getting worse, people that aren’t necessarily having issues say, ‘Oh my gosh, things are terrible, I have to hold back.’ And it perpetuates the cycle,” Nielsen said.
“All of a sudden they start to hear things are a little better, and they say, ‘Things aren’t bad for me, so maybe I can go spend some money and start loosening the purse strings.’”
The biggest sales generators in the region however, saw their totals slip a bit.
General merchandise stores such as Wal-Mart and Target brought in $399.3 million during the third quarter, a 1.34 percent drop.
“My interpretation would be that people may be spending money on some higher price items elsewhere, so there is some offset there.”
Grocery store sales fell slightly as well, dropping 1.59 percent with a total of $364.6 million in sales.
Nielsen said that decline might be due to the recent uptick in restaurant spending: “Typically what you see is one goes up, and one goes down.”
After two years of decline, retail sales in the Richmond area are bouncing back, especially in such hard-hit areas as furniture and electronics.
Taxable sales in Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico totaled $2.53 billion during the third quarter, a 1.5 percent increase compared with the same quarter in 2009. Sales data are compiled by the Virginia Department of Taxation.
Although the gain is modest, it is significantly better than the 7.7 percent third-quarter decline that occurred between 2008 and 2009.
Bob Broomfield, president of the Carytown Merchants Association and owner of the Play N Trade video game store there, said he has seen the tide start to turn.
“In Carytown last year, we have filled more stores and more restaurants, and that has created more traffic for us. Overall, yes, everyone had had a good year, especially heading into the Christmas season. We saw some really good traffic,” Broomfield said.
Broomfield said numbers were up at his own business, with a 23 percent increase in profit over the previous year.
Gary Weiner, president and CEO of Saxon Shoes, also said he’s seen improvement at his two stores.
“We definitely saw nice improvement in the third quarter,” Weiner said. “What we are feeling is a slight, steady uptick. Nothing to scream about, but it’s still an uptick.”
Weiner said it seems to him that consumers are willing to start to spend money on small personal items.
“Where they may not be able to buy a house, it’s a far cry from a pair of shoes,” Weiner said. “A pair of shoes is a good way to make your self feel good and by spending $30 to $60.”
Sales during the fourth quarter will have to hit $2.77 billion to come out ahead of the previous year, and that data won’t be available until later this year.
But the quarterly increase is a positive sign that consumers are opening their wallets a little bit more, and specific retail categories are seeing gains that they haven’t seen in years.
Connie Jordan Nielsen, a retail broker at Thalhimer, said the numbers confirm what she has seen in the field.
“We are hearing that same feedback from retailers who are happy with performance, and sales are up. Some are definitely loosening the tight reins they had on development or expansion,” Nielsen said.
Electronics and appliance stores in the area saw sales jump 22.37 percent, compared with a 40 percent drop in 2009.
Furniture stores collectively grew sales by 12.6 percent, compared with a 24 percent decline in 2009.
Restaurants increased sales as well, with a 7.83 percent jump over last year.
Nielsen said the boost in sales is a result of changing public perception of the economy.
“When [consumers] read and hear on the news that the economy is terrible and things are only getting worse, people that aren’t necessarily having issues say, ‘Oh my gosh, things are terrible, I have to hold back.’ And it perpetuates the cycle,” Nielsen said.
“All of a sudden they start to hear things are a little better, and they say, ‘Things aren’t bad for me, so maybe I can go spend some money and start loosening the purse strings.’”
The biggest sales generators in the region however, saw their totals slip a bit.
General merchandise stores such as Wal-Mart and Target brought in $399.3 million during the third quarter, a 1.34 percent drop.
“My interpretation would be that people may be spending money on some higher price items elsewhere, so there is some offset there.”
Grocery store sales fell slightly as well, dropping 1.59 percent with a total of $364.6 million in sales.
Nielsen said that decline might be due to the recent uptick in restaurant spending: “Typically what you see is one goes up, and one goes down.”