According to weather intelligence and analysis company Planalytics, the final week of December trended the warmest since 2011, curbing demand for winter categories.
Warmth was focused in the interior, as the East South Central and West South Central regions had their warmest end to December since 1996. The East North Central region was warmest since 2006.
The week as a whole trended the driest in 4 years in the U.S., supporting traffic into shopping centers and restaurants. Regionally, there were pockets of rain and snow. The West North Central region had its wettest end to December since 1972.
Weather-Driven Demand Impacts
The week ended December 31 saw warmer temperatures across the western two-thirds of the country, limiting winter demand. However, there was opportunity in the cooler East. Overall, the week trended drier, which supported traffic into shopping centers and restaurants, although there were pockets of rain and snow regionally. Restaurants saw a positive increase over the same period last year with larger increases in the Southwest (+7.4 percent) and Northwest (+3.8 percent) regions. Fleece was up slightly overall, driven by the highly populated Northeast and Eastern North Central.
Weather-driven demand is the percent lift or drag that weather and weather alone has on sales versus the same period last year.
December 2016: Apparel Stores In The East See $309 Million Lift
December’s colder temperatures in the eastern half of the U.S. benefited apparel stores, with Planalytics estimating that weather boosted this sector’s sales by $309 million (versus last December) in just the markets east of the Mississippi River alone.
Certain heavily populated markets saw weather-based sales increases versus 2015. Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Richmond and Raleigh were a few of the cities that saw up to 5 percent gains versus last year. Conversely, on the West Coast, retailers saw unfavorable comp performance due to the warmer temperatures.
In addition, sporting good transactions were also up significantly over last year. These more favorable conditions came directly after a very warm November – the warmest in 55 years. The abrupt change in temperatures propelled shoppers into the holiday mindset even more, increasing demand for outerwear, winterwear (hats, gloves and scarves), boots and sweaters.
