We’ve heard the talk. We’ve seen the stories in this magazine. Times have been tough for retailers. But how tough was 2006? Are you optimistic about 2007? To get those answers and a bunch more, we went straight to the source: you. We surveyed our readership, and the pie charts, as well as this story, have the answers. With Pres. George W. Bush delivering his State of the Union address on Jan. 23, we thought what better time to find out info about the state of the MI industry.

Our first question determined if our respondents worked for independent or chain retailers. Most were independents, evidenced by a 96 percent figure compared to just 4 percent for chain stores. Once we got that housekeeping out of the way, we got down to the nitty gritty. We asked, “As we look back at 2006, would you say sales were better, the same, or worse than 2005?” To say the results came out as a mixed bag would be an understatement. Amazingly, while 38 percent said “Better,” the same exact percentage said “Worse,” with 24 percent saying “Same.”

The answers changed only slightly when we asked, “Looking to 2007, are you: Very optimistic, Somewhat optimistic, or Pessimistic?” Sixty percent responded they were “Somewhat Optimistic,” followed by 22 percent saying they were “Pessimistic,” and 18 percent “Very Optimistic.”
We also asked, “What Demographic buys the most products from your store?” According to your responses, the 25-to-54 age group still rules the day at 81 percent, followed by 14 to 24 years old at 14 percent, 55 and older at 4 percent, and 13 and under at 1 percent. Does this mean the potential for retailers to make wads of cash from Baby Boomers has not been tapped yet? An opportunity seems to exist there, as this older demographic has seemingly yet to make a major dent in our industry’s sales numbers.

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