Retailwatch August 2011

Welcome to Retailwatch for August 2011

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August 2011 was overall much the same as August 2010, with an increase in retail spending of 0.5%, but down 5.1% from July's numbers. The lone big increase in August spending (11.1%) was in the Fuel & Service Stations category, which should not be a surprise to anyone at this point, although spending is down slightly from July. Books & Stationery Stores continue to struggle, as does Recreation & Entertainment and Travel & Accommodation. There is some expectation that these numbers will be boosted in September with the beginning of the Rugby World Cup. Supermarket prices were pretty much flat, slowing the trend of increasing sales that has been going for some time.

Regionally, there was again mixed news compared to August of 2010. All of the regions had an increase in Cafe, Restaurant, and Bar spending, which is some welcomed news, and the leader was Auckland with a 5.6% increase. North Island supermarket spending dropped 0.8%, but South Island spending was up 4.4%. Spending on Recreation & Entertainment was down only 3% outside the cities, but down over 11% in Metro areas. The opposite was true with Clothing & Footwear, where spend was up 2.7% in Metro areas, but down 0.7% in Non-Metro areas.

Books & Stationery were down big in Auckland, Nelson, Otago, and Waikato, but actually rose in Canterbury, Gisborne, and Tasman. People in Canterbury spent over 11% more at Liquor Stores, but couldn't match the folks in Taranaki who must have stocked up early for the RWC, increasing their alcohol spend by a whopping 24% compared to the same month last year. Also of note, Home & Building Supplies was up over 11% in Auckland and Department Store spending was down across the board.

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