Effect on Retail Sales Post Walmart Shooting
By America Alvillar
The nature of a major large-scale event like the Walmart shooting in El Paso has an after math with many implications. Among those implications is the question of how retail sales will be affected across the Paso del Norte region. The incident has sparked concerns about the risks of decline on major retail stores and their sales.
The Fountains at Farah and The Outlet Shoppers have been experiencing reduced customer traffic as a result of the shooting. Places like Dave and Buster’s Entertainment and Taco Bell Restaurant have been reporting that active-shooter incidents are a risk factor for their financial statements. People from Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua that have incentives to cross the border to El Paso have also been effected. “It is [the shooting] probably going to affect the willingness of people to cross the river from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso”, said Tom Fullerton, an expert in economics at the University of Texas at El Paso. According to Fullerton, at any given year, about 8% to 14% of total retail sales come from residents in Northern Mexico. Now, shoppers from Mexico will probably stay in Mexico to purchase their goods, while citizens in the U.S. who are not affected by the shooting will most likely go back to shopping at their regular retail stores.
How can we estimate the cost the shooting will have in retail sales?
Fullerton used historical data to come up with a predicted number. “Several years back, unfortunately, Cd. Juarez was going through a period of heightened narcotics-related violence and narcotics-related homicides”, said Fullerton and "for every additional two homicides, there was a loss of about $1 million in retail activity”. 22 homicides equal $11 million.
As the situation was not complicated enough for retailers, the value of the peso against the U.S dollar continues to weaken, and the entry lines from all borders are reported to have longer waiting periods. However, this seems to be a temporary customer traffic pattern. Fullerton added that by the year 2020, the after-math effect should subside. Hopefully, retailers experience stronger sales for the holidays.
El Paso will continue to attract new business and national chains in the long run. There are plans of opening another Albertsons, Cinemark Movie Theatre and a shopping center in the East El Paso area, along with other expansionary projects. With these expansions, the border area will progressively bounce back to it's normal retail sales rate. This reinforces how strong El Paso really is.
We are El Paso Strong!
The nature of a major large-scale event like the Walmart shooting in El Paso has an after math with many implications. Among those implications is the question of how retail sales will be affected across the Paso del Norte region. The incident has sparked concerns about the risks of decline on major retail stores and their sales.
The Fountains at Farah and The Outlet Shoppers have been experiencing reduced customer traffic as a result of the shooting. Places like Dave and Buster’s Entertainment and Taco Bell Restaurant have been reporting that active-shooter incidents are a risk factor for their financial statements. People from Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua that have incentives to cross the border to El Paso have also been effected. “It is [the shooting] probably going to affect the willingness of people to cross the river from Ciudad Juarez into El Paso”, said Tom Fullerton, an expert in economics at the University of Texas at El Paso. According to Fullerton, at any given year, about 8% to 14% of total retail sales come from residents in Northern Mexico. Now, shoppers from Mexico will probably stay in Mexico to purchase their goods, while citizens in the U.S. who are not affected by the shooting will most likely go back to shopping at their regular retail stores.
How can we estimate the cost the shooting will have in retail sales?
Fullerton used historical data to come up with a predicted number. “Several years back, unfortunately, Cd. Juarez was going through a period of heightened narcotics-related violence and narcotics-related homicides”, said Fullerton and "for every additional two homicides, there was a loss of about $1 million in retail activity”. 22 homicides equal $11 million.
As the situation was not complicated enough for retailers, the value of the peso against the U.S dollar continues to weaken, and the entry lines from all borders are reported to have longer waiting periods. However, this seems to be a temporary customer traffic pattern. Fullerton added that by the year 2020, the after-math effect should subside. Hopefully, retailers experience stronger sales for the holidays.
El Paso will continue to attract new business and national chains in the long run. There are plans of opening another Albertsons, Cinemark Movie Theatre and a shopping center in the East El Paso area, along with other expansionary projects. With these expansions, the border area will progressively bounce back to it's normal retail sales rate. This reinforces how strong El Paso really is.
We are El Paso Strong!
