Housing skid's latest victim: Holiday hiring
BY SANDRA JONES
Published October 3, 2006
If you need a little extra cash for the holidays, finding a temp sales job at the local mall could be tougher this year, says Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
The Chicago-based outplacement firm predicts that seasonal hiring won't keep pace with the 5 percent to 5.5 percent sales increase economists are forecasting for the October through December holiday season.
The reasons: Stores are taking a cautious approach to the holiday in light of the slowdown in housing demand. Rising interest rates means fewer consumers are pulling cash out of their homes. And the spread of self-serve checkout lanes and electronic inventory control means retailers need fewer sales clerks and stockroom workers to sell merchandise.
"The higher cost of gasoline, even with the prices coming down, has had an effect on how people are thinking about their pocketbooks," said John Challenger, chief executive of the firm.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to keep holiday hiring unchanged from last year at 50,000 workers, the company said.
On the bright side, stores are starting earlier this year to recruit holiday help, said Anne Edmunds, regional director for the Chicago area at Manpower Inc.
The Milwaukee-based staffing firm is getting more calls for help in finding temporary workers for the holiday then it had last year at this time.
"We didn't have as many requests a year ago as early in the season," said Edmunds. "We've had a better response this year. They're placing orders more readily than a year ago."
Last year, many retailers delayed holiday hiring help until November, uncertain of Hurricane Katrina's effect on the economy.
Department stores increase workforces by 12.5 percent on average during the holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation, a Washington-based trade group.
Princess reigns at Halloween: When the trick-or-treaters ring your doorbell this year, chances are you're going to see plenty of princesses and pirates.
Nearly 4 million children plan to dress up as princesses this year and 1.7 million will be pirates, according to an annual survey from BIGresearch, a consumer market research firm.
It's the second year in a row that princesses ranked as the most popular costume with 11.5 percent of consumers surveyed saying they will buy their children a princess costume.
Pirates jumped to No. 2 from 11th last year, thanks to the merchandising efforts of the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.
Halloween has become the second-biggest holiday for decorating after Christmas, according to the National Retail Federation, the Washington-based trade group that commissioned the survey. Consumers are expected to spend $4.96 billion on Halloween this year, up dramatically from $3.29 billion in 2005.
Roughly two in three Americans will celebrate Halloween this year, up from 52 percent last year.
Target embraces organic foods: Following on the heels of Wal-Mart, Target Corp. is expanding its organic food department. The Minneapolis-based discount chain store began offering organic foods under its in-house Archer Farms label earlier this month.
The line includes frozen pizzas and pastas, dairy products and juices. SuperTarget, which includes a supermarket, also offers organic produce.
Wal-Mart, the nation's largest grocer, introduced organic food at selected stores this spring with plans to expand into the small but fast-growing market.
chicagotribune.com |
