$1 BILLION SALES SAYS MUCH FOR COUNTY

To most people a billion is an incredible number since most of us rarely deal in millions of anything, much less a billion.

That's why news that retail sales in Cape Girardeau County topped $1 billion for the 12 months ended June 30 was considered such a milestone. The news had business owners, chamber of commerce officers and elected officials buzzing. The exact figure $1,085,687,400 kept Cape Girardeau County in Missouri's top-10 list of counties with the most retail sales volume. It also meant city and county sales taxes soared.

Sales at the county's more than 470 retail businesses July 1, 1999, through June 30, 2000, represented an $87.6 million increase in sales over the previous 12 months. The jump was attributed to increased sales in furniture, appliances and food. The sales translated into $14,918 in sales per county resident, topping the statewide average of $9,480 and the national average of $9,195 per capita.

Cape Girardeau County is fortunate in that it serves as a regional business hub that attracts shoppers from across Southeast Missouri, Southern Illinois and western Kentucky, and a surprising number from western Tennessee and northeast Arkansas. It also is fortunate in the fact that the assortment of businesses here offers just about anything anyone wants to buy. Local residents need not travel elsewhere to find what they are looking for.

But other factors also helped boost retail sales, among them a low unemployment rate and good economic times that mean the availability of credit at reasonable rates. Those factors put and keep consumers in a buying mood, and will for as long as the economy remains strong.

Retail sales long have been a vital part of Cape Girardeau's economy, and they will continue to be. Their importance was brought home by the announcement of the $1 billion milestone.