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Surprise! U.S. Retail Sales Rebound in Face of Delta Variant

Back-to-school helps get the sector back on track.

Published

2 years ago

September 20, 2021

INSTORE Staff

Surprise! U.S. Retail Sales Rebound in Face of Delta Variant

U.S. retail sales jumped by 0.7 percent in August, an unexpected report amid waning consumer confidence and a poor July performance from the sector, Reuters reports.

The surprise sales increase was likely fueled by back-to-school shopping and child tax credit payments from the government, the article says. Online purchases were the key driver of the sales, helping offset a slumping auto sector beset by a global microchip shortage.

The August numbers follow a July report that said retail sales in the U.S. declined 1.8 percent.

“U.S. consumption is not slowing as quickly as it appeared a month ago despite the fading stimulus, and the Delta variant did not much affect the industries feeding into retail sales,” Chris Low, Chief Economist at FHN Financial in New York, told the outlet. “The economy continued to hum in August.”

Read more at Reuters.

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Time to Do What You've Always Wanted? Time to Call Wilkerson.

It was time. Teri Allen and her brother, Nick Pavlich, Jr., had been at the helm of Dearborn Jewelers of Plymouth in Plymouth, Mich., for decades. Their father, Nick Pavlich, Sr., had founded the store in 1950, but after so many wonderful years helping families around Michigan celebrate their most important moments, it was time to get some “moments” of their own. Teri says Wilkerson was the logical choice to run their retirement sale. “They’re the only company that specializes in closing jewelry stores,” she says. During the sale, Teri says a highlight was seeing so many generations of customers who wanted to buy “that one last piece of jewelry from us.” Would she recommend Wilkerson? Absolutely. “There is no way that I would have been able to do this by myself.”