Holiday shopping up in Tampa Bay

TAMPA, Fla. – Shoppers were more willing to open their wallets this holiday season.               

MasterCard reports retail sales were up by about 4% this year.  

It was a good holiday season for Andrea Messina, the owner of Joe and Sons Olive Oil in Hyde Park, and she could tell because the basics were scarce.

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“We’ve actually only got a couple of bottles left. We’re tapped out,” Messina said.

Messina says the end of summer was brutal for everyone, as the twin hurricane hits of Helene and Milton forced stores to close and shoppers to open their wallets to general contractors. 

“It was still a little bit slow in the month of October, where we would normally see much higher numbers, but then it kind of made up for it,” Messina said. “I think people then towards these this last week right before Christmas, things were we actually did better than ever before.” 

Messina working in her Joe and Sons Olive Oil in Hyde Park.

MasterCard expects that overall retail sales were up 3.8% compared to the previous holiday season, with the last five days of the season accounting for ten percent of all holiday spending.

The National Retail Federation expected a 2.5 to 3.5% increase. Each shopper was expected to spend $902. 

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“That is record spending for the holidays,” said Trae Bodge, a journalist who covers retail. “But in terms of year over year, it’s quite modest. So consumers are spending a little bit more, but they’ve been spending quite conservatively.” 

The challenge for local boutiques is two-fold. 

One is that MasterCard says digital shopping grew by 6.7% this year, while in-store sales rose by 2.9%. 

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Bodge says one poll found three-quarters of shoppers considered bargains essential.

The growth in holiday spending is clear, with $833 being spent per person just two years ago, compared to $902 this year. 

“These are all unique items that you really just can’t get anywhere else,” said Messina. “So that’s sort of one of the ways we’re able to combat that.”

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