by Segment continues to be one of the slowest growth areas tracked by the U.S. government
WASHINGTON — Year-over-year brick-and-mortar furniture store sales for the month of December barely moved as consumers spent their discretionary income in other areas during the holiday season, notably for online shopping and dining out.
Furniture store sales for the month totaled $11.5 billion, up just .3% from December 2021, making it one of the slowest growth areas in the government’s monthly tracking of retail sales activity.
The only other segment that fared worse was electronics and appliance stores, whose sales were down 5.6% for the month, falling to just over $7 billion, from $7.4 billion in December 2021.
Consumers instead spent their money in other areas, placing orders online and through catalogs. For example, sales in the non-store retail segment, the report said, rose 13.7% to $109.4 billion for the month, compared to $96.2 billion the year prior.
Restaurants and bars also fared well, netting a 12.1% gain, to $88.3 billion, compared to $78.8 billion last year.
Overall, retail sales for the month rose 6% to $677.1 billion, compared to $638.7 billion in December 2021.
In order, other growth areas were food and beverage stores, up 6.9% to $81.3 billion, from $76.1 billion in December 2021; gasoline stations, up 5.2% to $59.6 billion, from $56.6 billion; sporting goods, hobby, musical instruments and bookstores, up 3.9%, to $9.3 billion, from $9 billion; general merchandise stores, including department stores and warehouse clubs, up 3.8% to $69.4 billion, from $66.9 billion; and clothing and clothing accessories stores, up 2.9% to $26 billion, from $25.3 billion.
Other slower growth segments included health and personal care stores, up 2.8% to $33.8 billion, from $32.9 billion; building materials and garden supply stores, up 2.3% to $42.3 billion, from $41.3 billion; and motor vehicle and parts dealers, up 1.8% to $124.5 billion, from $122.2 billion.
For the full year, retail sales were up 9.2% to $8.1 trillion.
Here too furniture store sales had tepid growth, rising just 1% to $143.4 billion, making it one of the slowest growing segments tracked by the government.
Furniture store sales also were down 2.5% from November, but almost all other segments also were down in the low single digits for the month, with the exception of building materials and garden supply stores, up .3%; food and beverage stores, which were flat; and sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and bookstores, up .1%.
For the full year, gasoline stations had the highest growth, up nearly 30% to $758.2 billion; restaurants and bars, up 16.7% to just over $1 trillion; non-store retailers including e-commerce players and catalogs, up 11.4% to $1.3 trillion; food and beverage stores, including grocery stores, up 7.6% to $947.6 billion; building materials and garden supply stores, up 6.6% to $509.6 billion; clothing and clothing accessories stores, up 6.2% to $312.3 billion; health and personal care stores, up 3.9% to $400.4 billion; motor vehicle and parts dealers, up 3.3% to $1.5 trillion; and general merchandise stores, including department stores and warehouse clubs, up 3.2% to $830.3 billion.
In addition to furniture stores, those segments falling below the 3% rate for the full year included sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and bookstores, up 2.8% to $110.9 billion, and electronics and appliance stores, down 6.3% to $88.2 billion.
