Originally appeared in June 2011 issue of Gifts & Decorative Accessories magazine Today's gift retailers are bracing for another tough retail climate. Fifty-five percent of stores who responded say total 2011 sales will be down from last year. Another third think they'll be about the same and an optimistic 11% think overall sales will increase this year. According to retailers, the biggest challenge in this economy continues to be the low consumer confidence due to high unemployment levels and fuel costs. As one store mentioned, the most difficult thing is "decreased traffic from consumers who don’t want to temp themselves." And, another store finds it challenging to "keep up the energy and keep her staff motivated." This year's exclusive survey results, collected during March and April and based on the mailed and online responses of gifts and decorative accessories retailers, represent more than 700 storefronts. Nearly three-fifths of the responding retailers describe themselves as gift specialists and 20% are classified as home accessories stores. Other retailers responding include hospital gift shops, florists, stationery specialists, toy or hobby shops, bookstores, museum stores and hardware and garden shops. Just about all of the stores are independently owned or family owned. More than four-fifths operate one location, while 7% operate two stores and 10% operate three or more stores. Annual sales for 2010 for 41% of responding stores were less than $250,000; nearly one-fourth had sales between $250,000 and $500,000. And the remaining 35% of stores who responded had sales in excess of $500,000. The survey was conducted by Gifts and Decorative Accessories’ Market Research Department, led by Director of Research Dana French. *6 pages* PLEASE NOTE: This report is available for immediate electronic download in PDF format. When you order this report, you will come to an order confirmation page which will show your report, with a blue "Download Now" button. |
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