FULL REPORT
KEY FINDINGS
· In 2002, retail sales in Missouri amounted to $39.62 billion. Compared to 2001, there has been little growth in retail sales (0.02 percent increase), when $39.61 billion was generated, (adjusted to 2002 dollars). Compared to 1998, this is an increase of 0.73% when retail sales amounted to $39.34 billion (adjusted to 2002 dollars).
· The majority of 2002 retail sales in Missouri were from miscellaneous retail stores (26.4 percent), general merchandise stores (21.1 percent) and food stores (17.3 percent).
· Branson, the Lake of the Ozarks, Springfield, Cape Girardeau, Joplin, Liberty and the larger rural towns located near interstates continue to experience the largest gains in retail consumers/sales from outside their county borders.
· Based on 2002 pull factors, 8 counties (7 percent) experienced the largest gains in retail consumers/sales from outside their borders. These included Taney, Camden, Greene, Cape Girardeau, Jasper, DeKalb, Miller and Clay counties.
· Retail gains in Camden and Taney counties are due to the presence of major tourism/recreation amenities in Branson and the Lake of the Ozarks.
· Greene and Jasper counties experienced retail trade gains because they are the major metropolitan areas in the southwest part of the state, and act as regional trade centers for that area.
· Lastly, retail trade gains occurred in larger rural towns because they are located near major highways and junctions, and serve as regional trade centers due to their distance from major metropolitan areas.
· A large proportion of counties experienced losses in retail consumers/sales to other areas, especially 40 counties (35 percent) statewide. Counties experiencing the largest losses were Worth, Putnam and Caldwell.
· Those counties most negatively affected were located in the northern portion of Missouri neighboring Iowa, or near metropolitan regional trade centers.
· Another large proportion of Missouri counties captured all of their local demand for retail sales from within their borders. These 45 counties (39 percent) are spread throughout the state.
Where Missourians shop for retail goods and services
Retail sales surplus data for 2002 indicate that the most often visited places to purchase various retail products and services in Missouri were as follows:
Overall, the top ten places to purchase retail goods and services were Springfield, Kansas City (Blue Springs, Gladstone, Grandview, Independence, Kansas City, Lee's Summit, Liberty and Raytown); St. Louis City suburbs (Chesterfield, Clayton, Ferguson, Florissant, Kirkwood, Manchester, Maryland Heights, University City and Webster Groves); Joplin, Branson, Columbia, Cape Girardeau and the Lake of the Ozarks.
Springfield, Kansas City, Jefferson City and the Lake of the Ozarks are where Missourians buy lumber and other building materials; paint, glass, and wallpaper; hardware; nursery stock; lawn and garden supplies; and mobile homes.
Shoppers for apparel and accessories, furniture and home furnishings, small wares, hardware, and food were drawn to stores in Springfield, Joplin, Kansas City, Cape Girardeau and Columbia. These are the department store, variety store and general merchandise store customers.
Stores carrying food products for home preparation and consumption such as grocery stores; meat and fish (seafood) markets; fruit and vegetable markets; candy, nut, and confectionery stores; dairy products stores; retail bakeries; and miscellaneous food stores, were best performers in Kansas City, Springfield, Branson and St. Louis City suburbs.
For new and used automobiles, boats, recreational vehicles, utility trailers, motorcycles, new automobile parts and accessories, and gasoline service stations, Kansas City, St. Charles, St.Peters, O'Fallon, Lake St. Louis, Wentzville and Farmington were the best places to shop.
St Louis City suburbs, Branson, Kansas City, Springfield and the Lake of the Ozarks were where Missouri residents purchased new clothing, shoes, hats, and related articles for personal wear and adornment.
The top places to shop for furniture, floor coverings, draperies, glass and chinaware, domestic stoves, refrigerators, and other household electrical and gas appliances; computer hardware and software; record and prerecorded tapes; musical instruments and other consumer electronics, were St. Louis City suburbs, Springfield, Columbia, Joplin and Cape Girardeau.
St. Louis City, Kansas City, Branson, Springfield and Columbia had the best sales in restaurants, lunch counters, and drinking places.
For other purchases including drugs, liquor, used merchandise, sporting goods, books, jewelry, cameras and photographic equipment, gift purchases, flowers, and catalogue and mail order items, Kansas City suburbs, St. Louis City suburbs, Springfield, St. Louis City and Joplin were the best performers.
