Strong Economy Should Boost SoCal Holiday Sales
Christmas 2004 should be a merry one for Southern California retailers, according to Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.
Kyser forecast retailers in the five-county Southern California region should experience retail growth of more than 4 percent during the Holiday season. He made his remarks at the third annual Economic & Trend Forecast retail panel, held Nov. 9 at the Glendale Galleria shopping center in Glendale, Calif.
Kyser said he believes consumer confidence from the generally robust economy will encourage Southern Californians to spend more during this Holiday season, which begins the day after Thanksgiving, than they did during the same period last year. He said there is a good chance that consumers’ fatter wallets will allay fears of Holiday profits being cut by the high price of gas and delivery delays resulting from increased congestion at the Los Angeles– Long Beach port complex.
This may buck a national trend. Sixty-nine percent of Americans plan to spend the same amount of money this Christmas as they did for the 2003 Holiday season, according to a survey released Oct. 11 by NPD Fashionworld, a marketing research company based in Port Washington, N.Y. Kyser said there is a good chance that Southern Californians will spend more because the region’s economy— which gained 11,000 jobs in 2004—has performed better than the economies of many other U.S. areas.
As in the rest of the country, luxury and specialty stores in Southern California are expected to deliver the best Holiday performances of the retail sector. “If you want something new, you find it at luxury stores,” Kyser said.
The Glendale Galleria expects to share in some of that Holiday cheer. General Manager JoAnne Briosi forecast that her shopping center’s retailers will experience a 4 percent increase in Holiday sales over Christmas 2003 and that revenues will rise to $600 per square foot. The galleria currently earns $580 in sales per square foot.
Discussing Holiday and Spring 2005 fashions were June Rau, West Coast fashion director for Nordstrom Inc., and Lisa Anderson, merchant for Metropark, the City of Industry, Calif.–based retailer that maintains a flagship store at the galleria.
Rau said clothes popular this Holiday season, such as separates embellished with jewel-like details, will be big sellers long into 2005.
Anderson said top sellers at Metropark have included men’s blazers by Huntington Beach, Calif.–based Howe Denim and women’s tops with attached fauxpearl necklaces by Los Angeles–based Lynn/Linh. —Andrew Asch
