NEW JERSEY—According to Levin Management’s annual pre-holiday retail survey, year-to-date sales are holding steady or are slightly higher as 2011. During October, the North Plainfield-based retail real estate services firm polled store managers within its 95-property, 12.5 million-sq.-ft. shopping center portfolio on these topics.
Of those surveyed, 53.6 percent of respondents reported the same or higher sales volume compared to this time last year. Additionally, 51.0 percent of 2012 respondents said that traffic is the same or higher than at this time last year.
Overall, Levin’s pre-holiday survey respondents have positive expectations for holiday sales performance. Results of the survey showed that:
• 69.7 percent of respondents anticipate sales will be the same or higher this season than last.
• 68 percent will be stocking up with the same amount or more inventory as compared to the 2011 holiday season.
• Respondents in the clothing/accessories/shoes category revealed significantly higher expectations than the overall respondent base with 91 percent of respondents anticipating the same or higher holiday sales levels over 2011.
