Tis the season to shop, and recent sales figures hold promise that retail businesses here will be booming during the holidays as consumers stuff their stockings to the brim.


Taxable sales have been climbing in 2005, and experts are anticipating a strong finish to a robust year for retailers.


There is no doubt in my mind that theres going to be record-setting sales levels for the fourth quarter in our community, higher than theyve ever been, says Randy Barcus, chief economist for Spokane-based Avista Corp. Im very encouraged by the numbers Ive seen so far.


Employment in Spokane County is higher this year than ever before, which has contributed to increased taxable sales, he says.


Theres been stellar growth in jobs this year, he says. People who are making money are out there spending it.


Preliminary third-quarter results for this year show 213,000 people currently are employed in Spokane County, up from 200,000 two years ago, Barcus says. Taxable retail sales in Spokane County are rockin and rollin, he says, reaching $1.8 billion during the third quarter, up nearly 7 percent from the same period last year, according to preliminary figures. He attributes a portion of that increase to vehicle sales and sales of construction-related materials.


Taxable retail sales include retailing, construction, manufacturing, transportation, and wholesaling, among others, says the Washington state Department of Revenue. Retail trade includes a smaller segment of the economy, including food, apparel, and auto dealers, and represents consumer purchases better, it says.


Retail trade in Spokane County hit $900 million in the third quarter, up from $872 million in the second quarter. Comparing 2005 retail sales data to figures from 2004 is difficult, though, because the federal government converted to a new classification system this year, which means fewer businesses are considered retail now, Barcus says.


Job growth in Kootenai County also has contributed to healthy retail sales here, he says. Coeur dAlene, at 8 percent job growth year-to-date through August, ranks second out of 424 metropolitan areas in the U.S. That growth spills over to Spokane County, because people travel here from Idaho to shop, Barcus says.


Retailers here affirm his optimism, saying their sales have been increasing throughout the year and are up significantly from last year, raising hopes for holiday business.


Were expecting a good year, and people seem to be in the mood to give, during the holidays, says De Scott, owner of Simply Northwest Inc., a Spokane Valley gift basket business.


Scott says the companys sales are up 20 percent from last year. It sells thousands of gift baskets each Christmas season, at prices ranging from $25 to $300.


Consumer electronics


Murray Huppin, president of Huppins Hi-Fi Photo & Video Inc., of Spokane, says that companys revenues are up more than 15 percent from last year.


Were expecting a strong holiday season, particularly because weve had a very good fall, and have been getting stronger as the year progresses, Huppin says.


Huppin says digital cameras and flat-panel televisions will be hot-selling items this Christmas, because prices have been falling, and more television programs are being broadcast in High Definition. For instance, the price of a typical digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera has fallen to $599 from more than $1,000 last year, he says. The company recently remodeled its downtown store to emphasize its two biggest product categorieshigh-definition televisions and digital camerasand that remodeling also has boosted sales, he says.


The value for what you get is pretty terrific, Huppin says of the consumer-electronics industry. Lots of other things, such as gas, are going up, but our products are going down in price and offering better features and better performance.


Uncles Games, Puzzles & More, of Spokane Valley, is expecting a new high-tech game, called Deflexion, to be a sleeper hit for the company, says Hans Isaacson, its president. The Egyptian-themed game combines lasers and mirrored pieces with a strategy similar to chess.


Isaacson says a large market is growing in the area of games that require more skill than chance. In particular, Renaissance games from Germany, such as the Settlers of Catan games that are richly illustrated and involve multiple layers of strategy, are popular. The company plans to sell a 10th anniversary edition of Settlers of Catan that has heirloom chess-set quality and is priced at $400. Most of the games Uncles carries range in price from $5.99 to $49.99, he says.


Uncles added a store in Bellevue, Wash., this year and has stores in Spokane Valley and downtown Spokane, as well as Redmond, Wash. Its Redmond stores revenues are up 10 percent this year and its Internet sales are up about 20 percent, Isaacson says. He expects sales to be higher during the holidays.


Robert Smith, general manager at River Park Square in downtown Spokane, says sales levels at stores there are higher than hes seen in the past several years.


We anticipate that were going to have a solid year, Smith says. Our sales are up 8 percent from last year, and the holiday season will at least hold that amount or buoy it.


River Park Square is at 97 percent capacity, and has added several new stores this year, including Teddy Bear Junction, a home furnishings-and-accessories store called Trendz, and a games-and-toys store called Whiz Kids. Other stores, such as Helly Hansen and Boehms Candies, have expanded their spaces. Smith says those changes, in addition to solid performances from anchor tenants such as Nordstrom Inc., are contributing to the shopping centers sales growth.


Seattle-based Nordstrom reported preliminary third-quarter sales of $1.7 billion, up 8 percent from third-quarter sales last year. The 186-store chain was one of 71 retail chains included in a recent International Council of Shopping Centers report that said combined same-store sales were up 4.4 percent last month compared with sales in October 2004.


Rich Hadley, CEO and president of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce, says national and local economic indicators bode well for the holiday season, despite worries about energy costs.


National and regional economies have improved, and retail spending was a little higher last year than people estimated, Hadley says. There are some dampening thoughts relative to energy costs going up, but American consumers have consistently shown that holiday gift-giving time is not so totally influenced by cost increases in a single area.


Employment and population growth are up here, contributing to a marked increase in residential construction projects, Hadley says. As a result, he expects home-furnishing items will be popular this holiday season.


People in general have more spendable income this year, he says. This Christmas will be strong, and will exceed last year.