A HUB FOR BUYERS: LOCAL RETAIL SALES OFF TO GOOD START THIS YEAR

Despite slipping retail sales in some parts of the country, Cape Girardeau County retailers are off to a good start this year.

Both Cape Girardeau city and county officials reported increases in retail sales-tax collections the first six months of 2001, an indication that consumers are spending.

Cape Girardeau finance director John Richbourg said city sales-tax revenue for January through July is up about 2 percent over that of the same period last year. The city received $3,924,000 in sales-tax revenue from its 1-cent tax, which translates into almost $400 million in retail sales in Cape Girardeau alone.

Cape Girardeau County received $3.1 million in sales-tax revenue from its half-cent tax the first half of 2001.

"That figure is up 2.2 percent over the same period of a year ago," said Cape Girardeau County Auditor H. Weldon Macke.

Toss in county-wide figure, and the total retail sales figure is about $620 million.

Cape Girardeau's retail-sales taxes account for about half of its general-fund budget, Richbourg said. Over the past five years, the city has received more than $35 million in retail-sales taxes, ranging from $6.5 million in 1996 to $7.7 million in 2000.

Cape Girardeau County, which has received more than $14 million over the past three years, depends on sales taxes for about 40 percent of its budget.

470 businesses

Cape Girardeau County's more than 470 retail establishments, headed by strong sales in appliances, clothing and food, surpassed the billion-dollar annual-sales milestone during the fiscal year that ended June 30. It was the second consecutive year that it surpassed $1 billion.

That total keeps Cape Girardeau in the top 10 Missouri counties for retail sales volume and means more sales-tax money for local projects.

Jim Govro, general manager of Westfield Shoppingtown West Park, is surprised by sales at the shopping center. "We're up 4.5 percent the first half of the year," said Govro. "And over the past year we're up 7.5 percent."

The economy could pick up steam the final half of the year, said Dr. Bruce Domazlicky, Southeast Missouri State University professor of economics. "There has been a slowdown in the U.S. and Southeast Missouri economic growth rate," he said, "but I think we've avoided a recession, and things could get better soon."

Domazlicky heads a university team that provides a quarterly economic outlook report.

Shoppers from five states

As a regional hub, the Cape Girardeau area attracts frequent shoppers from Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois, western Kentucky, northern Arkansas and western Tennessee.

"We're a regional center on a major interstate," said Macke. "We're a regional medical center, and we're home to Southeast Missouri State University. We're a major industrial center, and we're located along the Mississippi River."

The sales-tax figures "prove what we already knew," said John Mehner, president and chief executive officer of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. "Our area is a regional center of commerce for customers throughout Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois. People come to Cape Girardeau for health, education and business."

Bob Tucker and his wife, Clara, of rural McClure, Ill., were shopping in Cape Girardeau Monday. "We're over here every week," said Bob Tucker. "Many of the major stores are here, and Cape Girardeau is easily accessible for us."

Cape Girardeau County has been ranked among the top 10 counties in overall retail sales the past three years, says the Missouri Department of Economics. St. Louis County continues to record top retail sales, at more than $12 billion annually.