Independent paint and decorating stores continue to outpace their sales performance of a year ago, with third-quarter sales rising by 3.7 percent when compared to the same quarter in 2011, according to the latest PDRA Pulse Report.
All regions of the U.S., with the exception of the Northeast, posted increases in the third quarter. However, for the first three quarters of 2012, the Northeast has experienced an increase of 6 percent when compared to the same period the year before.
In Canada, third-quarter sales were slightly lower in comparison to the third quarter of 2011. In contrast, Canada is still in positive territory for the first three quarters as a whole.
Factors in this mostly positive sales report include increasing consumer confidence and an improvement in housing starts. Existing home sales are still a bit sluggish at just below 5 million units.
Looking at the sales performance for specific product categories, paint, sundries and window coverings all enjoyed sales growth when comparing third-quarter and year-to-date performance to 2011. Wallcoverings is still in a slight decline of between 2 and 3 percent for both comparative periods. Paint is the most robust performer, with third-quarter sales growth of 3.8 percent and an even better year-to-date growth performance of 5.3 percent in comparison to 2011.
The Pulse Report is a product of PDRA Market Research. View the full report here.
