With Christmas around the corner, businesses and holiday shoppers can expect to see the season conclude with spending exceeding last year’s numbers.
Holiday spending is going up nationally according to analysts, with numbers predicted to hit a record total between $957.3 billion and $966.6 billion in consumer spending between November and December, according to the National Retail Federation.
Jack Llewellyn, the Durango Chamber of Commerce’s CEO, said Durango is following the national trend.
The Durango Business Improvement District’s Holiday Rewards Program recorded $172,000 in local sales from receipts submitted to receive a gift card for certain amounts spent. All rewards were claimed within two weeks of the program starting, Llewellyn said. Additional holiday sales were not included in that number.
Local spending helps give back to the local economy through what Llewellyn referred to as the “multiplier effect.”
“If you buy local and spend local, that money stays here, and the dollar is more likely to say turnover five to seven times, which is then called the multiplier effect,” he said. “When you buy from a small business, then you’re helping support local charities or helping that family put their kid in Little League and their friends and neighbors, that type of philosophy.”
Recently ranked as America’s second-most “Christmassy” town by Mixbook, Durango features many holiday attractions such as the Polar Express train and events like Local First’s Noel Night.
“I know there’s approximately 40,000 riders for the Polar Express,” Llewellyn said. “So that helps to stimulate a lot of local Christmas buying and shopping.”
National spending is expected to be 3% to 4% greater than spending in the 2022 holiday season despite high inflation rates, according to the National Retail Federation.
“Consumers remain in the driver’s seat, and are resilient despite headwinds of inflation, higher gas prices, stringent credit conditions and elevated interest rates,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Klenhenz in a new release.
Llewellyn said the COVID-19 pandemic is partially responsible for the high demand this holiday season.
“I think there’s a lot of pent-up demand … just because people I talked to will say, ‘We weren’t able to take a trip’ or ‘we held off so let’s go ahead and do some things,’ or they’re taking their family to experience the Polar Express. They’re creating memories,” he said.
Llewellyn also said shoppers in Durango are buying items like gear and equipment for outdoor sporting activities.
Weslan Hansen is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C. She can be reached at whansen@durangoherald.com.
