e-EDGE is now available as an RSS feed. [Click here to subscribe to it.]October was another poor month in the retail world. Total retail and food services sales decreased by -2.8% last month, worse than the revised declines of -1.2%, -0.4% and -0.6% of September, August and July respectively. Only three of thirteen sectors reported higher sales in October compared to September. Miscellaneous store retailers led the way, with a sales increase of +0.7% over the month, followed by health & personal care stores (up by +0.4%) and food services & drinking places (restaurants & bars, +0.3%). Sales of food & beverage stores showed no change over the month.
Nine sectors reported over-the-month sales declines. The laggards included: gasoline stations (down by -12.7% due to plunging prices); motor vehicle & parts dealers (down by -5.5%); furniture & home furnishings stores (down by -2.5%); electronics & appliance stores (-2.3%); nonstore retailers (-1.8%); and sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores (-1.6%). Sales of general merchandise stores fell by -0.4%. Within the general merchandise sector, department store sales dropped by -1.3%, while sales of other general merchandisers (including warehouse clubs & supercenters) edged up by +0.1%. [All sales figures in this paragraph are seasonally adjusted.]
Year-to-date (and not seasonally adjusted), total retail & food services sales have grown by +1.9% compared to the first ten months of 2007, but were up by +5.1% excluding automotive. Gasoline stations were still the growth leader, with sales up by +18.5% over the year due to higher prices earlier in the year. Nonstore retailers and food & beverage stores shared a distant number two spot (both with sales up by +6.0%).
Sales of three retail sectors have lagged significantly all during 2008: motor vehicle & parts dealers (with a -9.8% decline so far this year), furniture & home furnishings stores (down by -7.0%), and building material & garden equipment & supplies dealers (-2.2%). The general merchandise sector registered an overall increase of +4.5% so far this year. However, department store sales were down by -3.6%, while the remainder of the sector—including warehouses and supercenters—reported sales up by +8.9%, a healthy pace that placed this group ahead of all retail sectors except gasoline stations. (Nancy D. Sidhu)
The total number of containers handled at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in October fell by 5.7% over last year’s activity. Both import and export containers were down. Import container activity dropped -6.4%, while export container activity had a steeper fall of -8.4%, a distressing trend.
The port of Oakland saw total container traffic in October slip by 10.7% over October of last year. Imports declined by -8.4% and exports fell -14.1%, a double digit percentage drop. (Jack Kyser) & (Shannon Sedgwick)
PR: http://www1.polb.com/default.asp
http://portoflosangeles.org/idx_maritime.asp
http://www.portofoakland.com/maritime/
With Japan’s announcement today, five of the G-7 nations have reported out their third-quarter GDP performance. Unfortunately, four of them—the U.S., Japan, Germany and Britain—registered declines, and two of the four—Germany and Japan—have reported two consecutive quarters of decline. [The U.K missed that distinction only because its second quarter showed no growth at all.] Which economy was still growing last quarter? France, but just barely.
Canada and Italy have yet to report their results. Whatever they say, most observers expect the fourth quarter will be down in all seven nations. (Nancy D. Sidhu)
Total passenger traffic at Los Angeles International Airport declined by -7.3% in the year to September. The international passenger count also was down by -7.3% over the year.
At Los Angeles/Ontario International, September activity saw a -26.6% decline, with the international sector down by -21.6% over the year. At Palmdale regional airport, September traffic rose by 33.1%, one of the strongest months. However, service will soon be ending.
The Bob Hope Airport saw September traffic drop by -16.4% in September, while the John Wayne/Orange County airport saw its’ passenger count drop by -12.2%. The Long Beach Airport broke pattern, with September activity up by 2.3% over the year. Palm Springs International also did well in September with passenger traffic up by 3.0% over the year.
Air cargo activity was soft during September, with LAX posting a -17.1% drop in tonnage, while Ontario was down by -7.9%.
International air freight tonnage was mixed in September, with LAX down by -16.6%, while Ontario saw a 24.6% increase over the year. (Jack Kyser)
According to PKF Consulting, trends at Bay Area hotels were mixed in September. In San Francisco, the occupancy rate was 87.3% compared with 86.9% a year ago. The average daily room rate (ADR) rose by 4.8% to $ 210.56. All of the strength was found in Fisherman’s Wharf, where the occupancy rate increased to 91.7%.
San Jose/Peninsula did not have a good September, with the occupancy rate dropping by -4.5% to 68.7%. However, the ADR rose by 3.8% to $133.71. (Jack Kyser)
See you on Monday, November 17 at the LAEDC 13th Annual Eddy Awards®
The Eddy Awards® is a cocktail, dinner, and awards gala to support fulfillment of the LAEDC mission to attract, retain, and grow businesses and jobs for the regions of Los Angeles County. The Awards were introduced by the LAEDC in 1996 to celebrate individuals, organizations, and now cities that demonstrate exceptional contributions to positive economic development in the region. Honorees: The Walt Disney Company, and Rick Caruso, developer of The Grove and the Americana.
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