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CLARK COUNTY’S RETAIL INDUSTRY
Written by Jonathan Nelson
Columbian staff writer
Fewer Clark County homes sold in 2006 meant fewer things were bought to fill those abodes and that meant retail sales for the year broke a recent trend of double digit growth.
Store-only retail sales in 2006 totaled $2 billion, a 6.2 percent increase from 2006, according to the Washington Department of Revenue. By comparison, sales grew 11.8 between 2004 and 2005.
The area’s housing industry, in which sales dropped 14 percent in 2006, provides one explanation for why people bought fewer goods. Electronics, appliances and furniture purchases grew by sizeable amounts in recent years as new homeowners furnished those dwellings. In 2006, those categories saw more modest increases. Building supplies bought by do-it-yourselfers prowling through stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot dropped 5.3 percent to $262.1 million.
But as sales slowed a bit, the retail landscape last year entered a transition period as Best Buy opened the county’s first electronics stores. Local retail experts see Southwest Washington maturing as a growing number of national companies see the area as fertile territory to open a store. A new shopping center planned for the former Evergreen Airport is just one example as developers expect to lure several high-end stores to the site. |
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