8B — November 28 - December 11, 2014 — Shopping Centers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
www.marejournal.com
S hopping C enters
Retailers gear up for early shopping emphasis and stepped-up seasonal hiring Levin pre-holiday survey shows optimistic sales expectations
N
sales may increase by more than 4 percent year-over-year. The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) in its latest consumer tracking sur- vey reports that 70 percent of consumers in that survey plan to match or exceed their 2013 holiday budget. “Consumer spending ties di- rectly to consumer confidence,” Harding noted. “As the econo- my has continued to improve, shoppers may feel greater job security and have more discre- tionary income. The recent drop in gas prices also may enable people to allocate some extra dollars for buying holiday gifts and decorations this year.” With 39.0 percent of respon- dents expecting their seasonal sales to peak during or before the Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend, the Levin pre-holiday survey findings indicate that retailers are gearing up for early shoppers. Fewer (12.7 percent) expect sales to peak in early December, while larger portions of the respondent poll expect sales to peak in mid- December (22.0 percent) and the weekend before Christmas (18.6 percent). In its Holiday Shopping Survey, Accenture found the strongest “consumer enthusi- asm” for Black Friday in eight years. In that poll, 66 percent of participants said they are likely to shop on Black Friday, compared to 55 percent in 2013 and 44 percent in 2007. “Following two strong years of healthy Thanksgiving/Black Friday performance, it makes sense that retailers are opti- mistic about the potential of early sales,” Harding said. “At the same time, it seems that our respondents also expect steady activity in December, especially as Christmas ap- proaches.” The Levin findings again fall in line with the ICSC consumer tracking survey. The trade or- ganization reports that “about 35 percent of consumers have or will have started their holi- day shopping by the end of Oc- tober. Roughly three out of five shoppers will begin shopping by Thanksgiving this year, and by the end of the Thanks- giving weekend 86 percent will have started making pur- chases.” Still, only 10 percent of shoppers will finish their purchasing before Thanksgiv- ing, according to ICSC, while two-thirds will be shopped-out by mid-December. n
things have picked up pace over the last fewmonths, and we are seeing strong momentum head- ing into the holiday season.” Levin survey respondents and a number of industry- tracking organizations agree. An impressive 80.3 percent of retailers polled by Levin expect their holiday season sales to equal or surpass 2013 figures. In its holiday forecast, the National Retail Federa- tion (NRF), which reports that holiday sales have grown by an annual average of 2.9 per- cent during the past decade, anticipates that 2014 holiday
pre-December shopping and plans for stepped-up temporary hiring with positions that may carry into the new year. Levin annually in late Octo- ber/early November polls store managers within its 95-prop- erty, 13 million s/f shopping center portfolio. Year-to-date, overall sales volume is at the same or a higher level for more than half (56.5 percent) of this year’s pre-holiday survey respondents. In the retail real estate services firm’s mid-year 2014 poll, only 42.9 percent of respondents reported sales at the same or a higher level year-
over-year. Year-to-date store traffic mirrors this same trending. More pre-holiday respondents (48.7 percent) reported the same or stepped-up traffic, compared to mid-year, when 44.3 percent of respondents reported static or increased traffic. “Severe weather and contin- ued economic uncertainty in early 2014may have dampened sales and in-store traffic – espe- cially in the Northeast, where our portfolio is centered,” noted Levin Management’s Matthew Harding, president. “However,
O R T H P L A I N - FIELD, NJ — With momentum picking up
as the holi- day shopping s eas on ap - proaches, re- tailers polled i n L e v i n M a n a g e - ment ’s 2014 Pre-Holiday Retail Sen-
Matthew Harding
timent Survey are showing strong enthusiasm for seasonal sales potential. The findings, released this week, also indi- cate expectations for strong
Investment Opportunity! - Grocery Anchored Shopping Center
• 245,800 SF Grocery-Anchored Shopping Center • Redeveloped in 2014 • 94% Occupancy • Located with signage and visibility on I-83 • Traffic counts exceed 61,000 VPD • Major Tenants include Darrenkamp’s (Opened April 2014) and Rite Aid Corporate
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter