NEW YORK — Retail revenue surged in April, helped by a late Easter holiday. The gains build on a trend that began late last year, but higher gas prices threaten to cut into consumers’ spending.
Overall, revenue at major retailers was 8.5 percent higher than last April, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers’ tally of 28 retailers’ results. That was better than the 5 percent to 6 percent increase projected by the trade group’s chief economist, Mike Niemira.
The figures are based on revenue at stores open at least a year.
The increase is not as robust as it looks because Easter fell on April 24 this year, three weeks later than last year. That inflated the April figure by 3 to 5 percentage points and hurt March by the same amount. March revenue rose 2 percent.
Analysts studied the two months combined to give an accurate reading of consumer spending for what retailers call the spring season. For March-April combined, retailers delivered a 5.25 percent increase, the strongest spring period since 1999, when the figure rose 6.2 percent.
“(Retailers) have to be happy with what the Easter Bunny left them, but it’s going to be a very bumpy ride ahead for everyone except the luxury sector,” said Sherif Mityas, partner at management-consulting firm A.T. Kearney.
Higher fuel costs are forcing low-income shoppers to focus on “needs rather than wants,” he said.
Some shoppers at Lakewood’s Belmar shopping district acknowledged Thursday that they were beginning to cut back.
“Gas is so high, you can’t go anywhere anymore,” said Loretta Taylor. She said she used to eat out every day for lunch but has cut that back to once a week. “It’s scary,” she said of the economic situation. “You don’t know where it is going.”
Karen Goldman, a former Lakewood city clerk who recently worked for the Colorado Senate, is looking for a job.
“I’m more conscious about watching my pennies,” she said. “I will only buy things I really need. I used to buy things that caught my fancy.”
Gas prices have risen for 44 days straight, hitting a U.S. average of $3.985 a gallon Thursday, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.
Pump prices have climbed 91 cents a gallon since the beginning of the year.
Denver Post staff writer Howard Pankratz contributed to this report.
