The nation is seeing a lot of uncertainty in the retail sector, and South Dakota businesses are feeling the impact.
Experts say though retailers are facing uncertainty now, you have to look back to get the full picture of why that is.
Nathan Sanderson is the Executive Director of the South Dakota Retailers Association. He said the impact of inflation is certainly an obvious factor, but there’s more than just one variable to take into consideration.
“That has caused some concerns for both small business owners and then of course consumers as well,” Sanderson said. “And so, this overall kind of economic uncertainty is driven by a whole host of factors: high inflation over the last number of years, obviously the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the elimination of direct payments to consumers or to individual citizens and then also the gearing down of the trillions of federal dollars that were in the economy.”
He added the nation is undergoing a lot of economic policy change as the White House transitions to a new administration, so some uncertainty is expected.
Sanderson said locally, a huge piece to the puzzle is uncertainty in the state’s ag sector.
"Small business owners, whether that’s the small-town grocery store or the hardware store or the café or the convenience store, they’re doing well when farmers and ranchers are doing well," Sanderson said. "If those folks aren’t doing well, and they don’t have dollars to spend on Main Street, then mom and pop business owners aren’t going to do well either."
Jeffery Tanner is the Executive Director of the Canton Economic Development Corporation. He said though most of the state is feeling the change, Canton is a little against the grain.
“We find ourselves in a bit of a pocket, where we’re at. And that pocket is because of a few different reasons. And we’ve drawn several new larger industries to our communities, and some of them have generated significant sales tax revenue for the city," Tanner said. "So, we’re proud of that as a development corporation that we’ve been able to snag those businesses and help out the Canton economy in that way."
Tanner said specifically Canton brought in Decker Sales and Equipment, a machinery sales and lending company, among other industries to keep consumers spending in the city’s retail sector.
As for Canton’s consumer spending, the city’s sales tax revenue was up over 44% year-over-year in January.
