While the final retail numbers for the holiday season have not been tabulated yet, Hawaii retails are self reporting lower than desired sales. Retail analysts note that the shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas was shorter this year, which partly attributed to the lower sales. Mark Storfer, the board chairman for the Retail Merchants of Hawaii trade group, commented, "It certainly has not lived up to the expectations of retailers, that's for sure. What I'm hearing from my peers in the business is that some retailers are down, some have achieved comparable sales to last year but very few, if any, are honestly telling me that it's a better year than last year. In the last few months we've seen significant increases in hotel rates and airfare, which has diminished the visitors' discretionary spending portion of their budget."
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 12-27-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
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