Alabama Gulf Coast reports record 33% rise in retail sales

Alabama’s Gulf Coast experienced a record-breaking spring for retail sales this year as it continues recovering from hurricane damage in 2005 – and the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau expects strong sales to continue into summer.

This spring, the taxable retail sales in the Orange Beach/Gulf Shores area rose more than 33 percent, compared to spring 2004, the year before Hurricanes Rita and Katrina damaged Alabama’s coast and prompted years of storm recovery and unprecedented new construction, the bureau said.

The nearby Foley area experienced a more than 13 percent increase in taxable retail sales and a more than 31 percent increase in taxable lodging rentals

Alabama Gulf Coast reports record 33% rise in retail sales

Record spending reported at beach