Paul Martin's Business News February 24th, 2014

Paul Martin's Business News February 24th, 2014

Cold weather in December was significant enough to erode retail sales activity in this province. In fact that was the story across the country as retailers in every region saw the same thing.

Volumes at retail stores in the province fell roughly three per cent below the levels achieved in November, according to the monthly report from StatsCan. No doubt this had an impact on stores owners as December the height of the Christmas season - is usually harvest time in that industry.

As a result of the decline, sales for the complete year were virtually unchanged, bringing the monthly increases that had become common to a halt. But sales in December of last year compared to the previous December we were still ahead by $50 million.

StatsCan pointed to generally cold weather across the nation as the key contributor to the slowdown, however, other factors such as gift cards are additional possibilities. Gift cards are tallied when they’re spent – usually after Christmas – not when the money passes into the retailers hands.

#wetellyourstories #canada #businessnews #paulmartin #statscan #christmas #sales www.martincharlton.ca