Retailers expect hot holiday season

With Christmas only two months away, retailers are expecting a more profitable fourth quarter than the previous year, according to findings from a new holiday survey.
Macerich, the owner of the Queens Center Mall and one of the nation’s leading owners, operators and developers of regional shopping centers, recently released results from a national survey that found 70 percent of retailers believe they will have a more successful fourth quarter in 2007. Those retailers believed that sales would increase on average by 9 percent compared to last year.
“It’s good news that so many national retailers, including a number of brands with stores at Queens Center, are expecting strong sales growth for the holiday season,” said Dawn Simon, Marketing Manager at Queens Center. “Retailers’ own forecasts are an important barometer of holiday sales trends, and what we’ll likely experience here at Queens Center.”
In addition to the 70 percent of retailers surveyed who believed this year’s holiday season would be more profitable than last year’s, 24 percent said they expected similar sales, while only 5 percent predicted lower sales.
Macerich conducted its survey online and received 42 responses from senior executives at Gucci, Tiffany, Pacific Sunwear, Hot Topic and Crate & Barrel.
More than 21 million shoppers visited Elmhurst’s Queens Center Mall last year making it a highly trafficked retail destination specifically during the holiday season.
“Based on our success during the recent Back-to-School season, we believe customers will continue to respond well to calendar-related or ‘appointment shopping’ events,” Simon said. “For the upcoming holidays, we believe that we are well-positioned with our merchandise and promotional events to reinforce for our customers why we should be their preferred shopping choice.”