Strong recovery for apparel and restaurants
Published: 22nd Apr 2021
Extract from Shop-Eat-Surf, April 15, 2021- The federal government’s monthly retail numbers released Thursday morning backup what we have been hearing anecdotally from industry retailers and brands: consumers opened their wallets in a big way in March.
U.S. retail sales grew 9.8% in March compared to the previous month.
And most interestingly, spending on both restaurants and apparel – two of the hardest hit categories during the pandemic – jumped 13.4% and 18.3%, respectively.
Department stores, which have seen big sales drops during the crisis, saw a 13% increase in sales compared with February.
Business is still booming at sporting goods stores, which have been a bright spot during the pandemic. Sales in that category of retail rose 23.5%.
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