Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1430606
wbjournal.com | November 22, 2021 | Worcester Business Journal 9 Voted Worcester's Best Bank for Business in 2021. Connecting all offices: 800.578.4270 • www.unibank.com Member FDIC/Member DIF • UniBank NMLS #583135 Visit us online or call today. Michael Welch, CEO Leader in Commercial & Industrial Loans and Commercial Real Estate Loans with $2.3 billion in assets. (as of March 31, 2021) unibank.com 508.849.4335 Large enough to serve all your business banking needs, but still small enough to know you by name. Black Friday sales have started sooner and sooner each year, regardless of the pandemic. Plus, shoppers may simply desire a return to relative normalcy after spending last year isolating themselves and shopping online, as well as saving money they would have otherwise been spent in other discretionary areas, like traveling. "Obviously, last year was definitely a break from normal," said David Sullivan, economic development and business recruitment associate at the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. "But this year we're expecting the Worcester area to kind of follow the same trend as what we're seeing nationally. What's being expected nationally is that retail demand is either going to be steady or it's going to grow this year." Steady wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, either. Data from the Massa- chusetts Department of Revenue from 2020 showed a slight decrease in sales and use tax collections between Octo- ber and December, compared to 2019, but revenues for all three months were still significantly greater than 2018. Revenues for October 2021, which came in at $686 million, are already much greater than the year prior, when the state reported $612 mil- lion, and even more so than 2019, when the state reported $599 million. All that to say, people still shopped through last year's pandemic holi- day season, and they're expected to continue shopping during this year's. Local retailers and their industry groups just hope they remember to turn to their locally owned businesses as much as possible. "From my personal opinion, I think it's going to be really busy," Sullivan said. "People have saved up a lot of money… We're coming out of 2020, and people are feeling good about next year." David Sullivan, Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce The Crompton Collective's merchandise from local makers was starting to have a holiday theme to it in early November. PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT W