The changing structure of retailing, including rapidly growing retail square footage and increasing catalog and internet purchases, leads many store managers to talk about difficulties, but overall spending seems quite strong. Package delivery firms reported record deliveries to homes from telephone and internet order firms. Retailers in strongly agricultural areas continue to report slow sales, especially of appliances and other durable items. Little change is seen from late 1998 patterns in vehicle sales. Sport utility vehicles and light trucks are selling well, traditional sedans less so.
Sales are strong in urban areas, but weaker in regions where agriculture predominates.
Several sources noted that foreign cars were selling better than domestics. Lack of snow delayed the winter tourism season in most district states, but the impact varied with location, according to tourism officials. They report improvement since snow fell in late December. One official in Michigan's Upper Peninsula reports that while the ski and snowmobile season started late, inquiries to the office were up 200 percent after snow started falling. In northern Wisconsin, traffic through tourism areas is reportedly lighter than usual.