Holiday spending looking healthy this year

If a statewide retail organization is right, retailers can expect a significant bump in sales this holiday season.

On Monday, officials with the Georgia Retail Association said Georgia is projected to see a 4.1 percent increase in sales over the 2013 holiday shopping season, which would have our state in line with national forecasts. Over the past decade, the association noted, that average annual increase has been 2.9 percent.

Of course, the commercialism that surrounds the winter holidays — Christmas, in particular — is often decried, the fact is that the holiday shopping season accounts for anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent of a retailer’s sales of the entire year.Last year, for instance, electronics retails made 23 percent of their sales and jewelry stores averaged 28 percent of their sales during the winter holidays.

No one should spend more than is prudent and the religious reasons for holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas should never be allowed to get lost in the bustle, but a significant increase in economic activity this time of year has its benefits. As the Georgia Retail Association observed, it is a sign of economic stability, and that has a positive impact on businesses purchasing from other businesses and on the employment front.

That latter consideration is particularly important to anyone who’s had trouble finding a job or who’s had to settle for part-time work on a job for which he or she is over-qualified. Expanding businesses adding good-paying jobs is something we all would be thankful for.

“Employment is up another 2.7 percent this year compared to last year,” Rick McAllister, president and CEO for GRA, said Monday. “Stronger employment combined with growing consumer confidence means more excitement for retailers during the all-important holiday shopping season.”

And while online shopping has gotten more popular, brick-and-mortar stores, particularly at upscale and popular shopping destinations, are expected to see added traffic, association officials said.

Nationally, according to the National Retail federation, surveys show that 67.6 million people have definite plans to shop over the Thanksgiving weekend and another 72.5 million say they might. Of those who will or might, 95.5 million say they’ll go on Black Friday and more than 60 million will visit stores on Small Business Saturday. We’re also happy to see that nearly half — 47.9 percent — will have ad circulars, such as those that will packed into Thursday’s Albany Herald, in hand as they look for deals. The next closest information source is emails from retailers, which will be used by a little over 31 percent.

The good news for local business people and their employees is, also according to the National Retail Federation, of the consumers who plan to shop on Saturday, nearly three-quarters said they will or might specifically shop at a small business.

“More than just a shopping day, Small Business Saturday highlights the millions of entrepreneurs and visionaries who help make retail the dynamic and community-focused industry that it is,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

And the benefits of shopping locally is something we hope shoppers will keep in mind not only this week, but throughout the year.

— The Albany Herald Editorial Board