Lafayette Parish Retail Sales are on track to break another record
The rise in Lafayette Parish retail sales continued through November, yet another indication that a record-breaking year is in the works.
Sales of more than $501 million in November pushed the year-to-date sales to more than $5.7 billion, an increase of 5.9 percent over 2013. November sales, the highest on record for the month, reflect an increase of 2.74 percent over November 2013.
“Retail sales have remained strong throughout 2014, and we expect to end the year on a high note,” says Gregg Gothreaux, president and CEO of the Lafayette Economic Development Authority. “With 11 months of sales recorded, LEDA’s forecasting model shows that we should be very close to a $600-million December, and we are on track to exceed 2013’s record-setting sales numbers.” The parish rang up $6.02 billion in retail sales in 2013.
Through November, Lafayette Parish had nine $500 million months, up from five in 2013. Sales in eight of the 11 months reported are the highest on record for the month; and eight months are higher than December 2010 sales, when numbers began to rebound from a decline in 2009.
LEDA also noted that November hotel/motel receipts totaled $6.7 million, 10.9 percent higher than November 2013. Year-to-date hotel/motel receipts are outperforming 2013 totals by 9 percent.
Overall, building materials, services, and miscellaneous goods/services are the top performing categories with increases of 18.7 percent, 9.3 percent, and 7.7 percent, respectively, over 2013 numbers.