Holiday Retail Sales in Wallingford Draws Mixed Reviews

Last Saturday, the question “How’s business?”, posed to retailers in a relatively unpopulated downtown, drew mixed responses. 

“Challenging,” said Town Councilman Bob LeTourneau, speaking from his  Wallingford Lamp & Shade LLC on Center Street. “We live in trying times.”   Yet, at a bakery mere blocks away, the word from a staff member, approached as she was preparing to open the shop, was that business was quite good.

Against a national forecast for solid growth this year in holiday sales, the strength of retail sales this holiday season by businesses in Wallingford seems, as yet, undetermined.

“I wouldn’t say there was a huge difference,” said Amanda, who serves as assistant manager at the Radio Shack store, on how business this year stacked up against sales at the store last.  She said that tablets and cell phones “are going to be the two biggest things for us. TV’s didn’t really go this year.”  And of the tablets with accessories that are selling well, she said the Kindle is the brand that to date has come out on top.

In October, the Washington-based National Retail Federation, which is the trade association for the industry, predicted a 4.1 percent sales increase this holiday season-–higher than the average forecast for the past 10 years of 3.5 percent.  Still, the forecast was lower than the 5.6 percent retailers saw in the actual growth in sales in 2011. 

The NRF uses a model that takes into consideration such factors as consumer confidence and disposable personal income.

Especially bright this year was the forecast for online sales, which Shop.org, a group that counts sales for all of November and December, put at 12 percent.  It based its prediction in part on efforts in mobile and social media that retailers have made. 

“I think that things seem to be going very well as afar as the retailers are concerned,” said Doreen DeSarro, who recruits businesses for the town from the Office of Economic Development.  “Brothers”—the banquet facility—“ is reopening, which I think is wonderful. Country Yarns has re-located . . . Tata's is expanding.  Knuckleheads is expanding.  That’s just within the downtown area. 

“This is not an indication that things are bad,” she said, noting that re-locations and expansions serve as an indicator of where business owners “see things going in terms of business downtown.”

She noted that car dealerships have also expanded, and that Wallingford now has a new Fiat dealership.  She described the automotive sector as having “quite a run.” 

“I’m hearing that the retail sales are good,” said Elizabeth Landow, who serves as executive director of Wallingford Center Inc.  The organization promotes the central business district.

“I can only go by what I see,” she said, with reference to this year’s Holiday Stroll.  “I always ask the merchants how they did.  This year, I did get a lot of positive feedback  . . . Business is up.”

Throughout the year, the business enjoyed by downtown restaurants was quite strong, she said.

She observed that Saturday was not a strong shopping day downtown.  Rather, she said, the downtown shops were busy during the week day.

And then she said the words that, while applied to restaurants, would warm any businessman’s heart. “On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, you can’t get a parking spot downtown,” Landow said.