Retail: Open for Business!

Back in May, Business Facilities ran a special advertising article on the retail industry, which highlighted a couple of U.S. retail hot spots. It also discussed the resilience of the industry, as it struggles to cope with and rebound from a shaky economy. Fortunately, the retail realm got a long-awaited boost thanks to the first round of federal economic stimulus checks reaching millions of Americans eager to hit the shops they've been too wallet-shy to visit.

An article from today's edition of the Chicago Tribune claims great gains for both our economy and the retail industry. The industry saw a 1% increase from last month, which is the largest jump since November. This windfall is double what most economists had predicted the stimulus checks' effect would have. As more checks reach consumers throughout the summer, it seems hopeful that the industry's mini-boom will continue, and that the U.S. economy will recover slightly from its "recessive tendencies," if not its full-blown recession.

Let's just hope that once the economic stimulus payments run dry, that our beloved retail industry can avoid another drastic dip in consumer activity. The Christmas shopping season never comes soon enough...