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Business Journal PO Box 510 Salisbury, MD 21803-0510
The Regional Chamber Newsletter
Vol. 16 No. 5
Dedicated to the Principles of Free Enterprise
December 2012
Holiday shopping predictions By Lynn R. Parks
job fair
The Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce and the One-Stop Job Market held their 7th Annual Job Fair at the Centre. Page 12
flooding
Buildings in downtown Salisbury had flooded before, but Hurricane Sandy was the worst. Page 10
health
Peninsula Regional presents the President’s Leadership and Chairman’s Awards. Page 24
INSIDE Ad Directory................................... 6 Barometer.................................... 13 Bus After Hours.....................14, 16 Business Directory................28, 29 Calendar........................................ 7 Director’s Journal.......................... 3 Education ................................... 26 Edward Jones.............................. 23 Health.......................................... 24 Member Profile ............................. 6 Member Renewals........................ 4 Networking Tip.............................. 4 New Members............................... 4 Personnel File ............................ 21 Salisbury University..................... 27 Shore Land Report...................... 30
Predictions for the 2012 Christmas shopping season vary according to the group that’s making them. But all of the analysts predict that stores and online shopping sites will see increases this holiday season over last year’s numbers: The National Retail Federation predicts that sales overall will go up 4.1 percent. “This is the most optimistic forecast the NRF has released since the recession,” president and CEO Matthew Shay said in an Oct. 2 press release. “Variables including confusion surrounding the ‘fiscal cliff’ and concern relating to future economic growth could all combine to affect consumers’ spending plans, but overall we are optimistic that retailers’ promotions will hit the right chord with holiday shoppers.” The Strategic Resource Group is not so optimistic. The retail and consumer goods consulting firm is predicting just a 2.1-percent increase in sales, down from a 3.2-percent prediction before Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of the United States in late October. Analysts with the group fear that “many Americans in some of the nation’s biggest cities who bought generators, bottled water and other emergency and cleanup supplies before and after the storm will be less inclined to spend over the holidays,” the organization said in a Nov. 1 press release. Consulting firm AlixPartners, on the other hand, says that Sandy won’t make any difference. The firm predicted a 3.5- to 4-percent increase over last year’s sales, and is sticking with that. Similar predictions have been made by market research company ShopperTrak and consulting group Deloitte. Purchasing over the Internet is also expected to increase: Shop.org, the online branch of the National Retail Federation, says that
Holiday shoppers will be out in force the next few weeks and merchants are hoping for a good increase in sales this year.
online sales will increase by 12 percent over last year. Online sales in 2011 were 15 percent higher than they were in 2010. FedEx has said that it expects to make 13 percent more shipments this year than it did in the 2011 Christmas season. Of course, those expected increases in sales are projected to lead to new jobs. The National Retail Federation predicts that retailers will hire between 585,000 and 625,000 seasonal workers this holiday. Last year, retailers hired 607,500 seasonal employees. Dr. Memo Diriker, professor at
Salisbury University’s Franklin R. Perdue School of Business and director of that school’s Business Economic and Community Outreach Network (BEACON), agrees with other analysts that across the nation, retailers will see a boost in sales this year. Speaking via text from Istanbul, Diriker said that that increase will continue a trend that started last year. “Based on a number of leading economic indicators that suggest a slow but steady improvement in the economy; higher consumer confidence reports compared to last year, and the expected Continued to page 23
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