For Immediate Release
November 27, 2002

LANSING — If it looks to you like stores started the holiday shopping season earlier this year … it’s because many of them did.

Nearly one of every four retailers, or 24 percent, planned to begin holiday promotions earlier than last year, according to the Michigan Retail Index survey of Michigan Retailers Association (MRA) members. Only 5 percent planned to start later.

"We expect this to be a huge promotional season, even bigger than before, with retailers pulling out all the stops to attract shoppers to their stores," said Larry Meyer, MRA chairman and CEO. "Retailers want to get this crucial sales period off to a strong start."

Meyer pointed to another practical reason for starting earlier: there are six fewer shopping days this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Stores’ sales performance climbed slightly in October, according to the Index, a joint project of MRA and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. It found that 30 percent of retailers reported increased sales over the same month a year ago, while 56 percent said sales declined and 14 percent reported no change. The results create a seasonally adjusted performance index of 39.1, up from 39.0 in September.

The Index also found that 52 percent expect to increase year-to-year sales for the November-January period and another 24 percent expect flat sales. The results create a seasonally adjusted outlook index of 62.9, down from 63.5 in September.

Retailers are entering the holiday season expecting gains averaging 3.7 percent, in line with national projections. Last year’s holiday gains averaged 3.3 percent.

The Michigan Retailers Association is the unified voice of retailing in Michigan and the nation’s largest state trade association of general merchandise retailers. MRA’s more than 5,800 retail business members operate more than 13,000 stores across the state.

Note: William Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, can be reached at 312.322.8151.