LANSING — Although Michigan Retail Index results for the 2011 holiday shopping season won’t be available until Jan. 25, retailers were solidly optimistic from September right up until Christmas that it would turn out to be a good season.
The latest Index showed positive retail industry performance in November, as sales
pushed up the Index for the fifth consecutive month to its highest point of the year.
The Index is a joint project of Michigan Retailers Association and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
“Michigan retailers went into the season forecasting, on average, a 6-percent gain over last year’s holidays,” MRA President and CEO James P. Hallan said Wednesday. “While at the time that figure was more optimistic than most national economists’ forecasts, it appears right now that it was an achievable projection. But we’ll have to wait and see the final numbers.”