Growth in the country’s retail sector slowed in the third quarter. But according to the most recent retail report from Cassidy Turley, that pause should be short-lived. The company’s November U.S. retail report says that several encouraging signs should provide a boost to retail activity in the final quarter of this year.
According to Cassidy Turley, retail vacancies were unchanged from the second quarter, and stood at a too-high 10.8 percent. At the same time, rents remained flat, too.
But there was some good news in the quarter. Cassidy Turley reported that low-end and discount retailers continue to thrive, pointing to Family Dollar, a low-end retailer that plans on adding 500 new stores in 2013.
Then there are high-end luxury and organic grocers, retail segment that, too, is doing well. According to Cassidy Turley, Whole Foods Market is scheduled to open 70 new stores across the nation in the next two years.
Who is struggling? To no one’s surprise, the mid-price retailers continue to see sluggish growth. In fact, Cassidy Turley refers to the performance in this sector as “slightly negative.”
The future, though, looks better, and Cassidy Turley is predicting a solid fourth quarter for retail.
This is based on some positives that Cassidy Turley’s researchers have noticed. For instance, consumers don’t seem overly concerned about the state of the economy. And retail sales have posted healthy gains for the three straight months ending in September. And the sales of motor vehicles, clothing, electronics and appliances have all seen healthy gains since July. In fact, Cassidy Turley reports that retail sales are on pace to finish 2012 up almost 5.5 percent when compared with 2011.
