NORFOLK, Va. — The holiday shopping season may not be off to the start some businesses hoped for.
On Nov. 15, The U.S. Commerce Department announced retail sales nationwide were down 0.1% in October. The decline was the first decline in seven months but was less than expected.
Businesses News 3 spoke to were remaining optimistic as of Friday heading into the thick of the holiday shopping season.
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Lindsay Sims, the owner of Maison Soleil in Norfolk, said the holiday shopping season did seem to be a little slower so far in 2023.
“Last year, we had good weekend after good weekend after good weekend. A good weekend means we knock it out of the park, right? We actually haven’t had a good weekend like that yet," Sims explained.
At Attic Treasures in Norfolk, business was fairing a little better and the October decline wasn’t worrying dealer Allen McDonald.
“I haven’t noticed a big difference (in business), so I think we’re kind of as usual," McDonald said.
The October decline was, however, worrying Sims.
“We did see a significant drop between August, September, and into October," said Sims.
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There is good news, though.
The National Retail Federation expected 182 million people to shop Thanksgiving Day and through Cyber Monday, almost 16 million more people than 2022 and the most since the NRF began tracking this data in 2017.
“We’re still very hopeful. People tend to shop last-minute," said Sims.
“Hopefully, it’ll be similar to last year. Last year was pretty good," said McDonald.
The NRF was also predicting shoppers would spend more money in 2023 than in 2022 but the holiday spending would only boost sales three three to four percent. Spending in 2022 boosted sales by almost five and a half percent.
Continued consumer resilience is still expected for the holiday season.
One customer News 3 spoke to at Maison Soleil, Ben Housley,. said he anticipated spending the same or less in 2023 on holiday gifts than in 2022
“I’ll probably still get the same amount of gifts but I’m thinking about, maybe, making some more this year," Housley said.
Friday, he was continuing his fall tradition of visiting shops in Ghent.
"I’d say this is going to kick it off for me," Housley said when asked if he had started his holiday shopping.
