Holiday Update

 

From the National Retail Federation, September 26, 2016

"More children this year than ever before will be celebrating Halloween dressed as their favorite superhero, as princess costumes fall to the number two spot after an 11-year reign, according to NRF's 2016 Halloween Consumer Top Costumes Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. Spending on Halloween costumes is expected to reach $3.1 billion, with 67 percent of Halloween celebrants planning to purchase costumes this year.

More than three million children will dress as their favorite action or superhero, 2.9 million will dress as their favorite princess and 2.5 million plan to dress as a cat, dog, bunny or other animal.

Children's Costumes
    1. Action/Superhero
    2. Princess
    3. Animal (Cat, Dog, Lion, Monkey, etc.)

Adults 18-34-years-old
    1. Batman Character (Batman, Harley Quinn, The Joker, etc.)
    2. Witch
    3. Animal (Cat, Dog, Bunny, etc.)

Adults 35+
    1.  Witch
    2. Pirate
    3. Political (Trump, Clinton, etc.)

Pets
    1. Pumpkin
    2. Hot Dog
    3. Bumble Bee"    

 

Legislative Update

 

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press, David Montgomery, September 23, 2016

"The second life of Minnesota's proposed special legislative session lasted just over two weeks.

Gov. Mark Dayton declared a special session dead in August after the two sides were unable to agree on funding for the Southwest Light Rail line. But when Dayton ordered a backup path to fund Southwest Light Rail, he agreed to open up special session talks again.

A Sept. 9 meeting between Dayton and Republican House Speaker Kurt Daudt led to negotiations between staff for both parties to iron out the details. A deal seemed close, with only a dispute about how specific the Legislature should be about specific transportation projects it wanted built.

But even that issue - and split political imperatives among Minnesota's political leaders - proved insurmountable. In a letter to Daudt released Friday, Dayton said he had "reluctantly concluded that the time for agreement on a Special Session has expired."

Daudt blamed "Governor Dayton and Democrats" for "walking away from bills the Governor acknowledges are good for Minnesota."

"House Republicans have initiated every meeting and discussion over the past two months to pass tax relief and funding for critical infrastructure projects like Highway 23, Highway 14, and countless others throughout the state," he said."

 

Holiday Prediction

 

From the Washington Post, Sarah Halzack, September 23, 2016

"Sure, it's barely autumn. You've only recently sent your kids back to school and ordered your first pumpkin spice latte of the season.

But for big retailers, the countdown to Christmas is already well underway.

In the last week or so, we've begun to see a trickle of forecasts and news tidbits that offer hints about how the all-important holiday shopping season is going to shape up. Here, we round up some of the key takeaways.

Forecasters think this year will be better than 2015. Deloitte, a consulting firm, predicts sales will grow this holiday season between 3.6 and 4 percent. Another consultancy, AlixPartners, estimates the industry'sales will tick up between 3.3 and 4 percent.

That kind of performance would stack up favorably to last year, when the National Retail Federation reported that the industry notched 3 percent growth. That figure wasn't terrible, but it was sharply below the 3.7 percent the group had forecast at the time. The industry chalked up its troubles in the 2015 season to a variety of factors: Promotional activity was high, and weather was unusually warm in broad swaths of the country, potentially making it less enticing to buy items such as boots and gloves.

This year, analysts are noting that the economy has broadly continued to improve, and that should encourage people to shop."

 

Annual Meeting

From mandated sick leave and minimum wage, to product regulation and plastic bans, local government is venturing into areas historically left to state & federal government.

Join us for a panel of perspectives on what's next in local government regulation and its impact on retail.

Event Details:
2016 MnRA Annual Meeting
Minneapolis Marriott West - St. Louis Park
Thursday, October 13, 2016
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Investment (includes lunch):
Members & Invited Guests: $35
Member & Invited Guests Table: eight seats, $325
Elected officials: Contact MnRA to register.

RSVP:
Pre-registration required. Call (651) 227-6631 or register online now. Cancelations must be made before noon on October 7 for a refund. Substitutions accepted.

This event is open to members and invited guests. For information on attending contact MnRA at (651) 227-6631.  

 

Sick and Safe Leave

"St. Paul's misguided workplace mandates ultimately will hurt people their supporters aim to help.

The city's new sick- and safe-time requirement and looming $15 minimum wage discussion are at odds with the drive to attract jobs and address racial disparities that Mayor Chris Coleman and city council members claim to embrace. By making it more difficult to start and grow a business, this regulation will worsen the divide between the haves and the have-nots.

Minnesota experts have analyzed the state's economic and educational disparities at length. Continued evidence of disparity arrived just last week:

Black or African American joblessness in Minnesota is 8 percent, according to August data from the state's Department of Employment and Economic Development, down from a year earlier but still nearly three times the white unemployment rate of 2.9 percent. Those rates don't count people who have given up looking for work.

And, according to a MinnPost analysis, while minority groups represent about 22 percent of the metro area's population, businesses they own account there for just 7 percent of all employer firms.

In the face of such disparities, our lawmakers are simply making matters worse.

While we should be clearing the way for entrepreneurship and business growth, and the freedom they deliver, we're instead deterring employment, raising barriers to entry, making it more expensive and difficult to start and grow a business here."