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Holiday Retail Forecast Looks Good for Akron, Mansfield

Holiday Shoppers walk in the Easton Town Center, Columbus Ohio.
KAREN KASLER
/
STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU
A University of Cincinnati forecast on holiday shopping shows mixed expectations around Ohio.

Ohio’s more than 7,000 retailers are expecting a slight increase in sales this holiday season over last year, though where those spending increases are projected may be a surprise.

The Ohio Council of Retail Merchants is predicting $25.3 billion will be spent this holiday season, a .8 percent increase over last year and lower than the national spending forecast. Megan Heare is with the University of Cincinnati Economics Center, which did the research.

“Labor market indicators including wages and employment remain strong,” said Heare. “However, consumer confidence has declined over the past year and remains susceptible to uncertainty.”

Mansfield is expected to see the biggest increase, with smaller jumps in Youngstown, Toledo, Dayton and Akron. Spending is projected to be flat in Lima and down in the three biggest cities, though Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus will still comprise just over half of all holiday spending.

Karen is a lifelong Ohioan who has served as news director at WCBE-FM, assignment editor/overnight anchor at WBNS-TV, and afternoon drive anchor/assignment editor in WTAM-AM in Cleveland. In addition to her daily reporting for Ohio’s public radio stations, she’s reported for NPR, the BBC, ABC Radio News and other news outlets. She hosts and produces the Statehouse News Bureau’s weekly TV show “The State of Ohio”, which airs on PBS stations statewide. She’s also a frequent guest on WOSU TV’s “Columbus on the Record”, a regular panelist on “The Sound of Ideas” on ideastream in Cleveland, appeared on the inaugural edition of “Face the State” on WBNS-TV and occasionally reports for “PBS Newshour”. She’s often called to moderate debates, including the Columbus Metropolitan Club’s Issue 3/legal marijuana debate and its pre-primary mayoral debate, and the City Club of Cleveland’s US Senate debate in 2012.