GREEN BAY, Wis. — The National Retail Federation expects holiday spending to increase 2.5% to 3.5% this year from 2023. Total sales are projected to be between $980 and $989 billion nationally.
Christine Herman of Willow Clothing Co. said that forecast follows a steady year of sales at the Suamico-based business. Willow Clothing Co. specializes in clothing — including exclusive designs — and creative classes.
“In-store has been OK,” she said. “We’re hoping for a really good fourth quarter for the holidays.”
Increased online sales are expected to play a big part in the projected sales growth this year.
It’s an area Herman expects to continue growing at Willow.
“What we have really seen this year is an explosion of online sales,” she said. “Our website has just exploded.”
Ashley Woitula is the owner Ashenjugg in Green Bay, an event-based play store located on Velp Avenue.
In its second year, she said her business continues to grow in terms of sales and the people who spend time there.
“Our community is growing this year. We’ve seen a lot of new faces coming in and they continue to come back in,” Woitula said. “We’re really excited being in our second year. We’ve seen a lot of growth this year and we hope it continues in that direction.”
Both businesses said they’re already starting to prepare for the holiday season ahead, a key time of the year for many small businesses.
“Especially with the growth that we’ve seen in our community, we hope to have more people who have started playing also think of us when they come to shop for the holiday season,” Woitula said.
