January retail sales saw a spike
Report: Spending here rose 3.7 percent, fueled by holidays
Retail spending in Houston grew in January over the previous year despite the pandemic’s effects on the economy, according to a new report from the JPMorgan Chase Institute.
Spending rose 3.7 percent over the year earlier, according to a report released Tuesday by the institute, which tracks monthly spending across a sample of some 40 million cardholders nationwide. The report, the latest in a series of monthly updates on spending in 15 metro areas, places Houston’s growth above the national average of 2.7 percent.
Spending growth in Houston outpaced that of New York (up 1.5 percent year over year) and Los Angeles (down 1.5 percent). Houston’s retail growth lagged behind Atlanta and Detroit, which each
saw retail sales jump 11 percent.
Retail sales in January typically hit a post-holiday slump, but this year the strong holiday shopping season rolled into the New Year, said Venky Shankar, research director of Texas A&M University's Center for Retailing Studies.
Despite the economic challenges posed by the pandemic, Americans spent more on holiday shopping heading into 2021 than ever before — $789 billion, an increase of 8 percent over the previous year’s season, according to the National Retail Federation. Consumers spent $209 billion online, an increase of 24 percent.
Online shopping drove the spending growth in Houston, said Chi Mac, the institute’s small business research lead. Consumers in Houston spent 21 percent more year over year, she said, contributing 7 percentage points to the overall growth in January.
“For Houston, offline spending is still negative, but it’s been compensated by the online spending,” Mac said.
Holiday sales were about 25 percent greater the previous year at Diptyque, a candle and perfumery store in River Oaks, said store manager Jennifer Simmons-Lazzari. “We blew last year out of the water,” she said, citing the promise of vaccinations rolling out and a pandemicfriendly product line. Sales thus far in 2021 have continued to outpace the prior year’s.
Carol Staley, owner of the children’s store Tomfoolery in Meyerland, said she did more in sales this past holiday season than last year. That pace has continued, she said, as revenues have consistently exceeded her prepandemic baselines so far this year. “Easter was fantastic, too,” she said.