Nevada retailers expect holiday spending to grow

The Retail Association of Nevada expects holiday spending to grow by up to 7 percent this season.

“Based on the performance witnessed in the first eight months of the year, we expect the trend of improving performance to continue throughout the balance of 2013,” said association President Mary Lau.

That would be better than the 3.7-4 percent growth pollsters predict nationally, she said.

Seven percent growth would translate to total spending of $1.7 billion in the state, a significant improvement over the $1.59 billion last year.

When the recession hit in 2009, retail taxable sales fell a whopping 16 percent. But Lau said that since then, spending has been increasing steadily, reaching 7 percent in 2012 and consistently beating the national retail sector’s performance.

Experts were concerned that the government shutdown would damage consumer confidence, but that it appears consumers haven’t been negatively affected, she said.