March 23, 2009
Mainers aren't buying it
By Mainebiz News Staff
Maine consumers are reining in the purse strings, according to a recent state report that shows a drop of 9.2% in purchases in January of 2009 compared with the same month a year ago.
Nearly all retail categories were down, according to the report from the State Planning Office, with the largest declines in building supplies and auto sales. Building supplies sales were down 22.6% from last year and auto sales dropped 13% over the same period.
Food sales showed a slight increase of 1.9% and a catch-all category of "other retail" was up 2.6%. Other retail includes dry goods stores, drug stores, jewelry stores, sporting goods stores, antique dealers, morticians, book stores and gift shops, according to the SPO.
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