The majority of independent retailers surveyed this fall expect to carry the same amount of holiday inventory as a year ago. They were polled through a questionnaire from the Kentucky Retail Federation.
The organization has some six thousand members. Communication Director Sarah Rowlette says not all independent retailers participated in the survey. Rowlette says the national federation is making predictions about toy choices this season. “Last year I think Disney’s Frozen had knocked Barbie out of her number one spot for the first time in quite a while and she’s made it make up to number one for girls so it’s interesting to see how some of these classics stick around,” said Rowlette.
The number one toy for boys is Legos followed by Star Wars items. Rowlette says just under half of responding retailers anticipate holiday sales to equal those of last year. “40 percent expect their holiday sales to be equal to last year and then the remaining 60 percent respondents were pretty divided equally for positive and negative outlooks,” explained Rowlette. “So, it was kind of a mix of uncertainty basically.”
Rowlette says some 20 percent of independent retailers surveyed anticipated increasing shopping hours this season. Rowlette says not all of the Kentucky Retail Federation’s 6000 members participated in the survey.?
