“With consumer confidence and employment growing, economic fundamentals are favorable for spending to expand in the coming months.”*

Never fear most of your customers will be having a great year!

According to the latest report from the National Retail Federation (NRF), Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz reports that numbers are pointing to growth in the retail industry. The report shows that February retail sales increased 0.3% seasonally adjusted over January and 4.4% year over year.

Kleinhenz was not able to accurately measure how tax cuts will factor in yet, but he predicts that it will obviously leave some extra money in consumers pockets. This should be great news for everyone since the numbers and the report favors increased spending. The NRF is forecasting that 2018 retail sales will grow between 3.8% to 4,4% year over year.

I don’t want to bog you down with too many numbers, but these are the February numbers which, according the NRF, are based on data from the U.S census bureau. Outdoor Sports Marketing is always trying to keep you in the loop! These numbers can help you get a good idea of what’s going on economically.

• Online and other non-store sales were up 10.5% year-over-year and up 1% over January seasonally adjusted.
• Clothing and clothing accessory stores were up 5.2% year-over-year and up 0.4% from January seasonally adjusted.
• Building materials and garden supply stores were up 5.1% year-over-year and up 1.9% from January seasonally adjusted.
• Electronics and appliance stores were up 4.3% year-over-year but down 0.1% from January seasonally adjusted.
• General merchandise stores were up 2.4% year-over-year but down 0.4% from January seasonally adjusted.
• Health and personal care stores were up 0.3% year-over-year but down 0.4% from December seasonally adjusted.
• Sporting goods stores were down 3.4% year-over-year but up 2.2% from January seasonally adjusted.

Outdoor Sports Marketing offers so much more than just advertising! Check out our web-site and read our blogs –  we can help be your economic weathermen and inform you when the market is hot to strike!

We care about our customers, the industry, and want to help you find the perfect time to advertise. Even if things are on a downward slope, we can help you come up with the perfect way to get your business out there in the public eye!