Gourmet Business - November 2015

The Home Stretch 

It’s show time! Hopefully by now your shelves are stocked with the best products for the holidays, your staff is trained and ready, and you have updated your credit card processing equipment to read microchips. You have wisely chosen to peruse our current issue, which contains some last-minute, affordable, gift ideas as well as a report on the latest tabletop trends...a category which has become quite gift driven. 

Now as you anxiously wait with anticipation as the foot traffic builds, I will share with you the good news. The National Retail Federation is expecting holiday sales to grow 3.7% to $630.5 billion, compared to last year’s 4.1 percent growth. The average increase in holiday sales over the last ten years is 2.5%, meaning that we should expect a better than average season by definition. What I find even more encouraging is that if you adjust for inflation, which averaged 2.56% in the last decade, and 2.29% in this decade, holiday sales are expected to be relatively higher than they were in 2005. How did your retail store fare during the 2005 holiday season? My bet is pretty well, since this was before it dropped off the map. 

Now the question still remains how these sales will be divided between products from our world versus electronics and other popular holiday gift categories. It seems all the trends are pointing in our direction.  It now comes down to executing your well-developed holiday plan. Product assortment, merchandising and exceptional personnel are the tools at your disposal. Now go help those holiday shoppers find the perfect gift! 

I am looking forward to seeing smiles on everyone’s faces when I see you in January at the next round of trade shows. 

Happy Holidays! 

David Spencer

Publisher, Gourmet Business

President, Housewaresdirect Inc.

dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com