by Board Retailers Association | Apr 15, 2021 | News, Retail Strategy, Statistics
KEY POINTS Retail sales boomed 9.8% higher in March thanks to a jump in spending at bars and restaurants as well as multiple other groups.Economists already had been expecting a gain of 6.1% as consumers received their $1,400 government stimulus checks.Jobless claims added to the good economic news, with first-time filings for unemployment insurance plunging to 576,000, easily the best week since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. View CNBC VIDEO by clicking link below https://player.cnbc.com/p/gZWlPC/cnbc_global?playertype=synd&byGuid=7000186441 Retail sales surge in March as consumers use stimulus checks A fresh batch of stimulus checks sent consumer purchases surging in March as the U.S. economy continued to get juice from aggressive congressional spending. Advance retail sales rose 9.8% for the month, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That compared to the Dow Jones estimate of a 6.1% gain and a decline of 2.7% in February. Sporting goods, clothing and food and beverage led the gains in spending and contributed to the best month for retail since the May 2020 gain of 18.3%, which came after the first round of stimulus checks. A separate report showed first-time filings for unemployment insurance plunged, with the Labor Department reporting 576,000 new jobless claims for the week ended April 10. That was easily the lowest total since the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic and represented a sharp decline from the previous week’s total of 769,000. The Dow Jones claims estimate was 710,000. As the jobs picture brightened, consumers took their $1,400 stimulus checks and spent aggressively. The money came courtesy of the nearly $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that Congress passed in March. The legislation...
by Board Retailers Association | Apr 13, 2021 | Associate Members, News, Resources, SUP, Surf
Editor’s Note: Just bought a new surfboard? Check out Surfcare, a new option for peace of mind. You just dropped an unforgiving grand(ish) on a creamy white hunk of fiberglass – straight off the rack from your local surf shop. It’s silky to the touch. Your eye skims its clean eyes with adoration. You’re beaming with pride. You’re also a little sheepish about the purchase. The expense to fragility ratio is merciless. The reef doesn’t care about your investment. Nor does the minefield of surfboards at crowded spots like Malibu. Nope. They’ll happily break your board for you and kill that joy at no cost. The fragility of expensive surfboards has long defied logic for addicted, cash-constrained surfers. But a sensible solution may have just hit the market. Enter Surfcare: insurance for your brand new surfboard. “I was on a six-month trip to Indonesia when I had my ‘aha’ moment,” says Surfcare Founder Nick Stolz. “I showed up to the tiny Island of Sipura in the Mentawais with a brand new quiver of boards. Within a couple weeks, however, I broke every single one of them surfing HT’s and waves on neighboring islands. That’s when I decided to make Surfcare a reality.” Surfcare cofounder Nick Stolz charging Nias prior to breaking all of his surfboards and deciding to do something capitalist about it. Photo: Courtesy Stolz According to Stolz, the brand launched last month after three years of development and hoop-jumping to abide by regulations in the understandably no-nonsense insurance industry. Insurance is not a bro-bro industry. Warranties must be vetted and maintained. “To get a little into the weeds, I didn’t know what I was...
by Board Retailers Association | Apr 6, 2021 | Industry, News, Snowboard
Please click on the following link to view this Shop Eat Surf News Article: Snowboard Sales Boom This Season Please note that this article is a Shop Eat Surf Executive Edition article so you will need to sign up and pay for access before viewing. We, at BRA, feel that the benefits of the SES Executive Edition Membership outweigh the cost. Be sure to visit the Shop Eat Surf website to view valuable Industry News and Resourceful Articles regularly via this link: Shop Eat Surf If you are not yet a BRA Retail Member, you can easily opt in to either Regular (no cost) or Distinguished ($99/yr.) Membership via this super simple join...
by Board Retailers Association | Mar 30, 2021 | Corona Virus, Educational Opportunity, Industry, News, Resources, Retail Strategy
Welcome to the BRA COVID-19 Resource Guide. Below you will find resources for the benefit of all board specialty retailers (BRA Retail Members and non-members alike) during this challenging period. The Board Retailers Association is actively aggregating resources to assist you in navigating these uncharted waters. We update this page with additional resources regularly. If you are interested in contributing relevant information or helpful resources that will benefit other board specialty retailers, please email our Executive Director at doug@boardretailers.org Relevant and trustworthy online resources providing facts related to transmission of Covid-19 (Corona Virus) and strategies to battle the spread #spreadthestokenotthevirus Center for Disease Control (CDC) – Official Website Flatten The Curve – Everything you and your customers need to know to battle COVID-19 is on this website World Health Organization – Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak This epic and relevant drawing was created by Reddit User Darth Voter Relevant educational webinars (on-demand) > Crystal Media – 3 Tips To Get Started With Social Selling Today and Staying Top-of-Mind and Connected to Customers During a Pandemic > Management One – 1) “The Retailer’s Guide to the Economic Stimulus Package & Financial Options to Address COVID-19” – The CARES Act is a complex mix of government aid and bank loans each with their own timelines and requirements. The parameters and regulations for these loans is changing hourly! 2) With rent being one of the highest monthly expenses for brick and mortar retail businesses, it’s a good idea to approach the subject of temporarily altering the structure of your agreement – The Art of Landlord Negotiation to Ease the Highest...
by Board Retailers Association | Mar 22, 2021 | Corona Virus, News, Retail Strategy
Shoppers wearing protective masks carry bags inside a shopping mall in San Francisco on March 9, 2021.David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images Shortages and supply chain bottlenecks may throw cold water on the upcoming consumer spending surge. Economists and policymakers are forecasting a surge in consumer spending this year, as the Covid-19 vaccination rollout accelerates, business restrictions ease and schools reopen. But retailers are already finding that shortages and supply chain bottlenecks could imperil their ability to facilitate the spending that contributes a significant chunk of the nation’s economic activity. Federal Reserve board members and regional Fed presidents expect that the U.S. economy will grow by 6.5 percent this year, in line with the expectations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. A prominent retail trade group is forecasting sales will increase by as much as 8.2 percent over last year, up to $4.4 trillion of economic activity. “We remain optimistic that retail will help facilitate a surge in spending, job growth and capital investment,” National Retail Federation president and CEO Matthew Shay said in a statement. This means retailers need to forecast what American shoppers want to buy and make sure they have the supply chains in place to supply the inventory, and the distribution networks to get those goods into buyers’ hands. It’s no small task, analysts and retail consultants say. “Many of my retail clients are very hopeful for that boomerang in customer traffic coming back in stores,” said Sean Whitehouse, managing director at Accenture. The challenge for retailers is trying to predict what people will buy when the world becomes unpredictable. “You’d have to...
by Board Retailers Association | Mar 17, 2021 | Associate Members, Distinguished Retail Members, News, Resources, Retail Strategy
BRA strives to be the definitive resource for active sport retailers and we’re always looking for ways to help your business be successful. We’re excited to announce a brand-new benefit available to BRA Distinguished Retail Members that will save you money by spending less on shipping. With the BRA Shipping Program, managed by PartnerShip®, you save 50% on FedEx Express and 30% on FedEx Ground. If you’re receiving inbound freight shipments from your vendors, you’ll also have access to competitive rates with UPS Freight, YRC Freight, XPO, and many others. To take advantage of this free benefit, enroll now. To learn more about the BRA Shipping Program, call PartnerShip at 800-599-2902 or email sales@PartnerShip.com. If you are not yet a BRA Distinguished Retail Member, please complete the super simple join form (choose the Distinguished Retail Membership option). Shortly after we receive your join form, we will email you an invoice with payment instructions for the $99 Annual Dues as well as the link to access the BRA Office Depot Preferential Pricing Program and summary of additional Supporting Vendor Partner benefits for BRA Retail Members. Once your payment is received, we will notify the good people at PartnerShip who will approve your enrollment and enable you to take advantage of the savings in a timely...
