Sep 20, 2007

Citing Economic Concerns, NRF Forecasts Holiday Sales Gains of Four PercentBy NRF.com

Washington, September 20, 2007 — The National Retail Federation today released its forecast for the upcoming 2007 holiday season, predicting that sales will rise 4.0 percent this year to $474.5 billion*.

“Retailers are in for a somewhat challenging holiday season as consumers are faced with numerous economic obstacles,” said NRF Chief Economist Rosalind Wells. “With the weak housing market and current credit crunch, consumers will be forced to be more prudent with their holiday spending.”

The 2007 holiday sales increase is expected to fall below the ten-year average of 4.8 percent. It would represent the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002, when sales rose 1.3 percent.

Luxury retailers once again appear to be a bright spot as their customers have demonstrated the ability to maintain high levels of spending. Clearly the retailers most affected by the economy will be those catering to the low to middle income consumer. This could spell trouble for discounters and some department stores whose shoppers may be looking to trade down.

NRF will release its first in a series of holiday surveys on October 16, polling consumers on where they will shop and how much they plan to spend.

The National Retail Federation is the world’s largest retail trade association, with membership that comprises all retail formats and channels of distribution including department, specialty, discount, catalog, Internet, independent stores, chain restaurants, drug stores and grocery stores as well as the industry’s key trading partners of retail goods and services. NRF represents an industry with more than 1.6 million U.S. retail establishments, more than 24 million employees – about one in five American workers – and 2006 sales of $4.7 trillion. As the industry umbrella group, NRF also represents more than 100 state, national and international retail associations. www.nrf.com.