Displaying items by tag: Holiday

For Immediate Release: November 15, 2015
CONTACT: James Miller This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (850)701-3015

With Florida’s economy continuing to strengthen and more residents and tourists feeling good about their own economic situation and willing to spend money, the holiday shopping season looks bright for retailers

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida Retail Federation (FRF), the state’s premier trade association representing retailers for over 75 years, announced today that the upcoming shopping season looks very bright for Florida’s retailers, thanks to the strength of the state’s economy and increased confidence among consumers. FRF is predicting a 4 percent increase in sales for Sunshine State retailers, which is expected to outpace the national average of between 3.3-3.5 percent.

“Florida’s economy remains strong, unemployment is at a 9-year low, housing remains hot and 100 million extra shoppers in the form of tourists are expected again, which should lead to a successful holiday shopping season for our 270,000 retailers statewide,” said President/CEO Randy Miller. “Smart and savvy retailers will seize on this positive momentum by incorporating discounts, sales and other perks to stand out from the crowd this season.”

WASHINGTON – October is expected to be the second-busiest month of the year for the nation’s major retail container ports as merchants stock up for the holiday shopping season, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

“The holidays are nearly here, and from warehouses to store shelves, retailers are making sure they have the merchandise on hand to meet consumers’ demands,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said. “November and December are the busiest time for holiday shopping, but this is the month for the behind-the-scenes supply chain work that ensures shoppers will find what they want, where they want it, when they want it.”

Ports covered by Global Port Tracker handled 1.71 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units in August, the latest month for which after-the-fact numbers are available. That was up 5 percent from July and up 1.7 percent from August 2015, and has been the busiest month of the year so far. One TEU is one 20-foot-long cargo container or its equivalent.

Volume dipped in September to an estimated 1.64 million TEU but was still up 0.9 percent from last year. October is forecast at 1.65 million TEU, up 6 percent from last year; November at 1.54 million TEU, up 3.9 percent, and December at 1.48 million TEU, up 3.4 percent. read more

https://nrf.com/media/press-releases/october-imports-spike-retailers-stock-holidays

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:October 3, 2016
CONTACT:James Miller, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (850) 701-3015

Average person expected to spend almost $83 this year on Halloween candy, decorations, and costumes for a nationwide total of $8.4 billion

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida Retail Federation (FRF), the state’s premier trade association representing retailers for over 75 years, announced today that consumer spending on Halloween is expected to set an all-time high with the average person spending almost $83, up from $74 in 2015. Total spending nationally on Halloween is expected to reach $8.4 billion up from $6.9 billion last year.

“More families are making a bigger deal out of Halloween each year, with consistent increases in per consumer spending, which should make for frighteningly good sales figures for retailers this month,” said FRF President and CEO Randy Miller. “We fully expect Florida’s Halloween sales to meet or exceed the national numbers thanks to sustained positive economic indicators and a healthy state economy.”

According to FRF’s partners at the National Retail Federation’s Halloween Consumer Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, U.S. consumers are expected to spend an average of $82.93, up from last year’s $74.34, with more than 171 million Americans planning to partake in Halloween festivities this year.

According to the survey, consumers plan to spend $3.1 billion on costumes (purchased by 67 percent of Halloween shoppers), $2.5 billion on candy (94.3 percent), $2.4 billion on decorations (70 percent) and $390 million on greeting cards (35.4 percent).

When it comes to preparation, 71 percent of consumers plan to hand out candy, decorate their home or yard (49 percent), dress in costume (47 percent), carve a pumpkin (46 percent), throw or attend a party (34 percent), take their children trick-or-treating (30 percent), visit a haunted house (21 percent) or dress their pet(s) in costume (16 percent).

Searching for the perfect costume inspiration will lead consumers to sources such as online (35 percent) and in-store (29 percent). Social media is the fastest-growing influencer for the perfect costume, particularly Pinterest (17 percent), which has seen 133 percent growth since 2012. Some other places for inspiration include friends/family (19 percent), Facebook (17 percent), pop culture (16 percent) and print media (14 percent).

When it comes to where consumers will shop for the season, 47 percent of shoppers will visit discount stores to buy their Halloween-related items this year and 36 percent will visit a specialty Halloween/costume store, up from 33 percent last year. In addition, 26 percent of customers will visit grocery stores/supermarkets, 23 percent will visit department stores and 22 percent will shop online.

The survey asked 6,791 consumers about Halloween shopping plans. It was conducted September 6-13 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA RETAIL FEDERATION
The Florida Retail Federation is the statewide trade association representing retailers -- the businesses that sell directly to consumers. Florida retailers provide one out of every five jobs in the state, pay more than $49 billion in wages annually, and collect and remit more than $20 billion in sales taxes for Florida’s government each year. For more information, visit the FRF website, and follow FRF on Facebook and Twitter.

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For Immediate Release: June 30, 2016
CONTACT: James Miller This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (850) 701-3015

Average per person spending up slightly, and with more people celebrating, total spending also expected to be higher

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Good news for Florida’s retailers as the Florida Retail Federation (FRF), the state’s premier trade association representing retailers for over 75 years, says that per person spending will be up slightly over last year’s high, with more people expected to celebrate the holiday leading to higher total spending. Consumers will spend an average of $71.34 per household on food for barbecues and picnics, supplies and decorations, essentially unchanged from last year’s $71.23. Total spending nationwide is expected to reach almost $7 billion, up 1.4 percent from 2015.

“Floridians will celebrate Independence Day this year by spending in record numbers, making it potentially a very prosperous holiday weekend for our retailers statewide,” said FRF President & CEO Randy Miller. “Low gas prices, nice weather and a healthy state economy all add up to a fun and successful celebration for consumers and retail business owners.”

According to FRF’s partners at the National Retail Federation’s 2016 Independence Day Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, 65 percent plan to attend a cookout/barbecue/picnic while 43 percent will watch fireworks or join another community celebration and 12 percent will attend a parade.

The survey also found that American families are well-stocked on patriotic items: Nearly two-thirds own a U.S. flag, half own patriotic-themed apparel such as T-shirts and hats and a third own patriotic decorations. Nonetheless, 25 percent plan to purchase more of these items in preparation for the holiday.

The weekend is also a popular time for travel and vacations with 13 percent, or 31 million, saying they will head out of town. With gasoline prices relatively low, only 21 percent said gas prices will affect their travel plans, down from 22 percent last year and a peak of 47 percent when gas prices were higher in 2011.

The survey of 6,811 consumers was conducted June 1-7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA RETAIL FEDERATION
The Florida Retail Federation is the statewide trade association representing retailers -- the businesses that sell directly to consumers. Florida retailers provide one out of every five jobs in the state, pay more than $49 billion in wages annually, and collect and remit more than $20 billion in sales taxes for Florida’s government each year. For more information, visit the FRF website, and follow FRF on Facebook and Twitter.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL RETAIL FEDERATION
As the world's largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, the National Retail Federation's global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the U.S. and more than 45 countries abroad. In the U.S., NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2010 sales of $2.4 trillion. www.nrf.com.

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We want to remind you that, thanks to FRF’s efforts this past legislative session, Florida will hold a back-to-school sales tax holiday, taking place August 5-7. Each business should be receiving the Department of Revenue’s Tax Information Publication listing all the eligible items for the holiday in the coming days, but we wanted to share this document with you as soon as possible so you can begin preparing your business accordingly. Reminder that there is an opt-out provision for those qualified businesses whose gross sales of eligible items comprises less than 5%. Please refer to this document for a complete list of eligible items along with more info on the opt-out provision.