Photo / Amber Waterman
Curtis Picard, president and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine.
December 19, 2018
Retail Association's Picard bullish on holiday sales, outlines 2019 legislative priorities
This holiday shopping season looks to be a merry one for retailers, according to Curtis Picard, president and CEO of the Retail Association of Maine, which is based in Augusta.
“We seem to be going into a good strong holiday season,” he told Mainebiz in a phone interview on Monday. “December tax figures won’t really be reported until mid-February, but we’re hearing anecdotally and seeing from national data that it’s shaping up to be a decent holiday shopping season. We’re hopeful that’s going to translate to Maine as well.”
Economists are predicting a fourth-quarter rise in U.S. retail sales after Friday’s report from the U.S. Commerce Department showing a higher than expected 0.2% increase in November as shoppers took advantage of lower gas prices and Black Friday sales.
Figures for U.S. October retail sales were also revised upward to a 1.1% increase (from 0.8% reported earlier), adding to optimism that household spending is gaining momentum even as factory output remains sluggish.
As for Maine retail this December, Curtis is optimistic the weather will cooperate through Christmas, and says the the fact that Christmas Day falls on a Tuesday “gives people a long weekend to hit the stores one more time.” He’s also encouraged by signs of shoppers not only returning to physical stores, but also committing to support ones that are locally owned.
New Year’s wish list
In the New Year, Curtis says the Augusta-based association has two legislative priorities. One will be to push for a “small fix” to LD 1405, a law passed last year requiring online retailers who sell into Maine to collect and remit taxes on those sales.
Picard says the law was passed in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme court ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair, which upheld similar legislation in that state. He says that while a number of online retailers are complying with the June decision, “there are still some transactions that are slipping through the cracks.”
To remedy the situation, he wants to see legislation in Maine to fix the loophole, adding: “It’s not major but a direction that needs to happen. We’re going to be pushing that.”
He also said the Association is open to the idea of having a statewide plastic bag ordinance in place of the current hodgepodge of varying fees and bans in different communities, which poses a challenge to retailers operating out of more than one location.
“I think we will take a good look at that,” he said.
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