RAN July 2022

July 2022

Technology is Taking Retail “Phygital”

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ANY CONCERNS HAVE BEEN EXPRESSED that retail is going to go out of existence, but in many ways, the prognostications regarding the dying state of brick-and-mortar retail can be compared to Mark Twain’s famous line: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated” (the author wasn’t dead; he was abroad). If anything, retail is getting stronger. Shopping is big business in all its aspects, mom-and-pops, multistate retailers, big box, on-line catalog, etcetera.

What’s exciting about the current aspects of retail is that technology is taking retail “phygital.”

The term is such a current vocabulary to retail that it even had to be added to my Word dictionary.

Basically, ‘phygital’ is the term coined to describe the unique blend of e-commerce with the ability to browse or shop

By Mary Lau, RAN CEO

seamless, multifaceted, and it’s fun to shop, especially with innovative technological experiences.

You might be handed a tablet in the makeup section of the department store that serves as a virtual mirror for virtually testing how the makeup products will look on you.

What an advantage to be able to assist customers with Continued on page 2

Mary Lau

in-store. It’s an emerging approach geared to meeting or exceeding customers’ expectations both practicality and emotionally.

Most major retailers have already combined their physical and digital stores to provide customers with an immersive brand experience while simultaneously offering web-based shopping options.

This, however, is more of an omni-channel approach to shopping,

INSIDE Pharmacy Update for Nevada........................ 3 The State of Retail in 2022................... 4 June Retail Sales Increased Despite Rising Inflation................ 5 Nevada State of Retail 2022 chart.........6, 7 Back to School Spending to Reach $491 Million Statewide........................11

Retail Association of Nevada • www.rannv.org

“Phygital” these tools to best serve their needs in an instant.

Sales assistants can readily offer a physical to digital and back again experience while simultaneously checking inventory to refer to another article or show an online enhancement to purchases.

Emerging and Existing Technologies A lot of this technology was made available through the “Internet of Things.”

That was a concept that was a bit confusing on its surface, but it is simply the network of connected objects that can collect data in realtime, using embedded sensors. Think of refrigerators, smart TVs, house lighting from your car, Amazon Echo Plus Voice Controller, Ring doorbells, and smart locks. These are based on Bluetooth technology that transmits a constant signal targeting content to a smartphone.

This technology is also used when a customer opens an in-store app, and the communications can go both ways from customer to retailer.

Facial recognition has 2

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Continued from page 1

been successfully added play an even more augmented shopping to the toolbox for retailers. significant role. where AR/VR A customer can be During a trip to technologies are used. identified, their location Italy many years ago, I Applications confirmed, and their was grocery shopping of augmented shopping experience with a friend where she reality make the enhanced by the retailer picked up a scanner customer experience knowing who they are and proceeded to do all more efficient and and what their usual her shopping, including comfortable. AR shopping entails. produce. She weighed technology enables If you remember the the product, printed up people to virtually film Minority Report, this a label, and placed it on model and try on items recognition was used the bag for scanning. such as clothing, houses, to identify Tom Cruise’s In leaving the store jewelry, makeup, cars, character—but then, she downloaded her and furniture. This that’s a bad example. purchases to a check-out enhanced experience Facial recognition computer, paid by ATM leads to measurable technology is becoming and we left. This store positive responses and more critical and useful in even had shopping cart increased sales. terms of loss prevention. racks (like airport cart The next phase?

In this expanding world bins) that you paid to These technologies of Organized Retail Crime, rent the cart, and when are all based on it’s slowly becoming you returned it, you got artificial intelligence necessary.

“The next phase? These technologies are Then there is the exciting use all based on artificial intelligence development of autonomous and its continuous upgrades and discoveries.” delivery robots and robotic store your coin back. development and its assistants.

US grocers are continuous upgrades and Robotic sales beginning to employ discoveries. At the same assistants are being these and other time, mom-and-pops tested that can technologies in going are implementing some answer questions, lead cashier-less. It will be of the same services customers to the exact interesting to see the and technologies location of an item diverse options—selfwhile keeping the local and, if unable to do checkout, curbside community’s interest and that, enable a video pickup, or drone relationships. connection with their deliveries.

This is an exciting human counterpart to COVID-19 sped up time for retail in general assist the customers. some of the consumer and RAN looks forward to In the current world of expectations and keeping you informed. ■ Source: Placer.ai labor and supply change acceptance of this struggles, robotics will and other forms of

www.rannv.org • Retail Association of Nevada

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Pharmacy Update for Nevada

HE MOST RECENT BOARD OF PHARMACY meeting was held in Las Vegas on May 23, 2022.

The board agenda revisited a regulation the board previously voted to not go forward during the April meeting. This regulation would allow an oncology group to maintain a single inventory of drugs at a site of practice.

This regulation was then reconsidered and passed unanimously after the “public” member of the board chastised all the other members of the board that voted against the passage and members of the public that voiced concerns against this regulation in the previous meeting. The board then voted again, and the measure passed unanimously.

The regulation, LCB File No. R007-21, was heard during the Legislative Commission meeting held

By Liz MacMenamin

on June 10, 2022 and was passed into law. Oncology groups may now have one inventory to share with the physicians in their group.

They must still individually be licensed as a dispensing practitioner but are now allowed to share one inventory. The practice site is still required to inform the patient that they have the option to obtain their medication from their community pharmacist.

The other regulation that was discussed during this meeting was to allow an emergency room physician to be able to dispense a limited supply of controlled substances for the purpose of treating a substance abuse disorder.

This was heard as a workshop item and will be heard at the next board meeting during public hearing.

The board also heard LCB File R041-21 regarding amendments to the requirements for a pharmaceutical technician and a technician in

Liz MacMenamin training. The amendment authorized the issuance of registration to any applicant who is actively registered in good standing in another state and removes a requirement that an applicant who attended school outside the United States to submit a copy of his or her transcripts. This regulation should remove unnecessary barriers expediting the licensing process.

The board also approved a regulation that eliminates the Advisory Committee on Continuing Education that advises the board concerning the accreditation of CE’s. (LCB Fille No. R120-21) The Legislative Commission held on June 10th returned a regulation (LCB File R119-21) to the

board regarding AB 177, requiring pharmacies to print another language on prescription bottles if requested for a nonEnglish speaking patient.

The board included directional language for the pharmacy regarding labels that may not fit on a prescription bottle due to the size of the label. The sponsor of the bill did not want this to be included in the regulation and requested that the board remove this direction from the language. RAN (Retail Association of Nevada) has attempted to reach out to the sponsor to see if she has any suggestions regarding how a pharmacy should proceed if this problem arises. As of the time of this article the sponsor has not responded.

RAN will keep members informed once we have that information.

Members should still be prepared to implement this law before the regulations are in place.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

The next board meeting will be held in Reno, Nevada on July 13-14th. ■

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Retail Association of Nevada • www.rannv.org

The State of Retail in 2022

By Bryan Wachter

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HAT IS THE STATE OF RETAIL IN 2022?

The answer on paper looks a lot different than what we’re seeing on the streets. Most of the criteria used to judge the state of retail shows a booming economy – record high consumer spending, solid consumer demand, a supply chain that has finally caught up with the 2020 COVID shutdowns – combined with some worrying indicators of

it lacks the nuance to show the full picture. To better understand these increases, we’re relying on anecdotical feedback to understand whether more products are being sold or if prices have gone up. Many customers are reporting higher prices, while many retailers report that they are actively putting pressure on their suppliers and manufactures to keep prices low and absorb the increased cost of goods.

What we do know is

“Most retailers are offering starting wages well above minimum wage, and even then, there aren’t enough job seekers to fill the open positions.” a recession on the cusp – sky-high inflation, a volatile stock market, rising costs of doing business resulting in price increases, and rising cost of living, especially housing. In other words, the recipe for a perfect storm.

that reported profits are not increasing to match the consumer spending.

These profits are being used to offer more competitive wages and absorb as much of the price increases caused by inflation as possible.

PROFITS “Record retail sales” sounds like a good thing. It is one of the few measurements we have available to us to judge the health of the retail industry, but what we’re finding in 2022 is that 4

PEOPLE When the Nevada Legislature voted in favor of increasing minimum wage in Nevada, COVID wasn’t even on the radar.

Fast forward to 2022, when the annual minimum wage increase took place on July

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Bryan Wachter 1st, the market had already and more successfully dictated the going price of labor.

Most retailers are offering starting wages well above minimum wage, and even then, there aren’t enough job seekers to fill the open positions.

The market changed, the cost of living went up and wages had to go up to match. The biggest challenge facing many of our employees today is lack of housing, which is further driving up costs. Time will tell if rising interest rates have any impact in leveling or reducing the cost of housing.

POLITICS Politically speaking, it’s been an interesting couple of years for business. In addition to the ongoing conversation about

business taxation and regulation, business is now being pulled into this new reality of culture wars, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to thread the needle.

Staying out of politics is becoming less of an option as some customers are demanding action, while any action may turn off other customers. I don’t see this changing over the coming year as politics begins to have measurable impacts in purchasing decisions when pushed from the right or the left.

PROCEED CAUTIOUSLY The state of business in 2022 can’t be summed up in a sentence, and I’m not even sure it could be summed up in a college textbook. At this point, we are watching cautiously as we approach the November midterm elections, followed by the legislative session next year, and the next presidential election is not far off.

Businesses should proceed cautiously, prepared to batten down the hatches should the dark clouds on the horizon turn into the perfect storm. ■

www.rannv.org • Retail Association of Nevada

June Retail Sales Increased Despite Rising Inflation

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ETAIL SALES INCREASED IN JUNE EVEN AS INFLATION climbed higher and drove up prices across the board, the National Retail Federation said today.

“June retail sales data shows that consumers remain on solid footing despite rising prices and an active Fed raising interest rates to combat it,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said.

“Inflation has consumers modifying their spending behavior and prioritizing essentials like food, energy and back-toschool items.

Unfortunately, modified consumer behavior won’t be sufficient to offset persistent price increases. Other policy measures like removing China tariffs, enacting smart immigration reforms and investing in supply chain resiliency are needed to lower costs for American families and put much-needed dollars back into their pockets.”

“June’s numbers show consumers are powering through price pressures, but inflation is eating away at savings built up

National Retail Federation

during the pandemic and is wiping out recent income gains,” NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “Inflation remains a challenge to consumers trying to make ends meet and will continue to be an issue even if it cools down in the months ahead.

Despite that, consumers are holding up notably well and continuing to spend.”

The U.S. Census Bureau today said overall retail sales in June were up 1 percent seasonally adjusted from May and up 8.4 percent year over year. That compared with a 0.1 percent month-overmonth decrease and 8.2 percent year-over-year increase in May. NRF’s calculation of retail sales – which excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants to focus on core retail – showed June was up 0.6 percent from May and up 5.8 percent unadjusted year over year. In May, sales were down 0.3 percent month over month but up 6.3 percent year over year.

NRF’s numbers were up 5.8 percent

unadjusted year over year on a three-month moving average as of June. Sales were up 7 percent year over year for the first six months of the year.

June sales were up in all but two retail categories on a yearly basis, led by online sales, grocery stores and building materials stores, and increased in just over half of the categories on a monthly basis. Specifics from key sectors include: l Online and other non-store sales were up 2.2 percent month over month seasonally adjusted and up 9.6 percent unadjusted year over year. l Grocery and beverage stores were up 0.4 percent month over month seasonally adjusted and up 7.5 percent unadjusted year over year. l Building materials and garden supply stores were down 0.9 percent month over month seasonally adjusted but up 6.7 percent unadjusted year over year. l Furniture and home furnishings stores were up 1.4 percent month over month seasonally

adjusted and up 4.8 percent unadjusted year over year. l Sporting goods stores were up 0.8 percent month over month seasonally adjusted and up 2.4 percent unadjusted year over year. l General merchandise stores were down 0.2 percent month over month seasonally adjusted but up 2.1 percent unadjusted year over year. l Clothing and clothing accessory stores were down 0.4 percent month over month seasonally adjusted but up 0.2 percent unadjusted year over year. l Health and personal care stores were down 0.1 percent month over month seasonally adjusted and down 0.5 percent unadjusted year over year. l Electronics and appliance stores were up 0.4 percent month over month seasonally adjusted but down 8.7 percent unadjusted year over year. ■

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Nevada State of Reta The retail industry in Nevada employs 152,900 workers, accounting for a 10.5% share of total statewide employment.

Retail is the fifth-largest employment sector.

Nevada has nearly 8,200 retail businesses in 27 store categories.

The five largest store categories are: grocery, general merchandise, clothing, automobile dealers and department stores.

The 5 largest store categories are: Grocery General Merchandise Clothing Automobile dealers Department stores

Nevada’s retail trade sector paid workers

$5.8 billion in wages in 2021, representing 8.2% of all wages in the state.

Small businesses comprise the majority of Nevada retail businesses with 6,774 locations providing 44,000 jobs and $1.7 billion in wages.

28% of business in Nevada are owned by women

ail 2022 Through April 2022, taxable retail sales in Nevada totaled $80.4 billion on a trailing 12month basis, marking a new all-time high.

Taxable Retail Sales

$100b $75b $50b $25b $0b

2018

For every $100 in returned merchandise accepted National Retail Federation

2022

Retailers lose $10.30 to return fraud

Retail Association of Nevada • www.rannv.org

Nevada Notes SENATOR CHRIS BROOKS STEPPING DOWN TO ACCEPT PRIVATE SECTOR POSITION State Senator Chris Brooks will be ending his six-year legislative career halfway through his four-year term.

Brooks said it was a “bittersweet decision” to accept an opportunity at a private-sector energy company where he will work on developing renewable energy projects across the country.

He confirmed that the position is not with NV Energy.

In the meantime, Brooks will be stepping down from his posts at the Interim Finance Committee and other interim legislative committees.

His replacement will be appointed by the Clark County Commission appointee ahead of the 2023 legislative session.

Nevada Independent NEVADA DEMOCRATS MAY FACE A BRUTAL ELECTION YEAR In an election year where voters’ top concern is inflation, Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto’s playbook is to dodge the issue while highlighting her role in providing COVID relief to Nevadans. Analysts say her strategy, which includes targeting her Republican opponent for supporting abortion restrictions, is the best chance a Democratic candidate has of surviving in an election year when inflation is at a 40year high and President Joe 8

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Biden, a Democrat, has weak approval ratings.

Reuters NEVADA GAS PRICES SET RECORD HIGH Nevada gas prices hit a new high in June, averaging $5.34 a gallon. The state’s average gasoline price is the third highest in the US, with fuel prices still 67 cents higher than the national average of $4.67. Locals and visitors alike have been affected by the high prices, with some walking to work and selling their cars.

Patrick De Haan, head petroleum analyst at GasBuddy. com, said that Nevada will likely continue seeing high gas prices this summer due to oil prices hitting $115 per barrel and a lack of direct access to oil and refining capacity.

Las Vegas Review-Journal BACKROOM AMENDMENT GIVES BIG PAYDAY TO NEVADA LAWYERS In a last minute, conference committee amendment in 2017, legislators approved an increase to the fees that can be charged by law firms hired by the state for cases, including Opioid litigation.

While members of the conference committee remember discussing the fee increases, there is no official record of the discussion or vote.

The law firm of then Majority Leader Aaron Ford is one of the firms that has benefited from these fees. Eglet Adams,

the former law firm of Attorney General Aaron Ford, has received nearly $5 million for representing Nevada in its first opioid lawsuit.

KRNV Reno STATE SENATOR WANTS COVID MONEY AUDIT State Senator Scott Hammond is calling for an accounting of all spending by the state authorized under the governor’s COVID-19 emergency declaration to ensure no funds were misappropriated. His request comes in response to allegations of a fraudulent COVID testing company working in Nevada, providing faulty tests to several Nevada public entities. Hammond would like to confirm the contract used to hire the laboratory was conducted correctly and not awarded in return for campaign contributions.

Las Vegas Review-Journal FEDERAL GAS TAX HOLIDAY WON’T HELP NEVADANS President Biden’s gas tax holiday sounds like a good idea, reducing the cost of fuel by more than $0.14 per gallon in federal taxes, but Nevada law won’t allow that savings to be passed to Nevadans because state law requires any reductions to federal fuel taxes with trigger an increase in state fuel taxes. Any change to this would require action by the State Legislature. State Senator

James Settelmeyer has been calling for a Special Session since the idea was originally floated several months ago.

KTNV Las Vegas NATIONAL GROUP LAUNCHING $2 MILLION CAMPAIGN AGAINST SISOLAK The Republican Governors Association has launched a $2 million television and radio ad opposing Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak’s reelection.

The ads link Sisolak’s actions as governor to Nevada’s high gas prices, inflation and unemployment. The ads also highlight the tax increases passed in 2019 that were approved by Sisolak and later overturned by the Nevada Supreme Court.

Nevada Independent RECOUNT IN GOP PRIMARY FOR GOVERNOR FINDS FEW ERRORS The result requested

by Joey Gilbert, Republican gubernatorial candidate and Reno attorney, found few discrepancies and did not change the outcome of the election. Gilbert paid for the statewide recount at his own expense after finishing second in the June primary election.

Gilbert said he did not expect the recount to change the outcome, but it was a needed step in his plans to legally challenge the validity of the election.

Las Vegas Review-Journal

www.rannv.org • Retail Association of Nevada

National Notes WALMART GOLOCAL NOW DELIVERS TO 1,600 LOCATIONS In an effort to grow its customer base, Walmart GoLocal, the company’s white-label delivery service, expanded to 1,600 retail and commercial sites across the United States.

The Home Depot, the service’s first retail partner, has increased the number of locations offering GoLocal delivery to over 300 stores, covering both major metro hubs and rural areas.

Currently, GoLocal is prioritizing offering low-cost delivery options to mid-sized and regional businesses.

President and CEO Doug McMillon said that Walmart GoLocal aims to operate in 5,000 sites by the end of 2022.

Retail Dive WALMART IS EXPANDING ITS DRONE DELIVERY SERVICES Walmart is working with DroneUp to expand its drone delivery service to 34 new locations by the end of the year.

According to David Guggina, Senior Vice President of Innovation and Automation at Walmart U.S., this expansion gives the company “the potential to reach 4 million U.S. households” and deliver over 1 million packages every year by drone. Drone deliveries will be scheduled

daily between 8 AM and 8 PM and deliver items weighing less than 10 pounds. Drones will be operated by teams of certified drone pilots supporting each of the participating stores.

Grocery Dive INSTACART UNVEILS NEW RATINGS FEATURES Instacart recently rolled out a revamped customer ratings system with the option for Instacart Shoppers to blacklist customers.

Instacart Shoppers must now maintain a rating of 4.7 or higher to be considered for batch prioritizing, which was previously predicated on “having the greatest rating possible.”

The company also announced that it will begin eliminating ratings from customers who “consistently rate their Shoppers below 5 stars.” Instacart claimed that the new features were designed based on Shopper feedback.

Grocery Dive ROTISSERIE CHICKEN PRICES REMAIN STABLE Despite rising food prices and an uptick of 16.4% in chicken products, rotisserie chicken prices haven’t risen.

Several grocery chains like Costco, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Publix kept the prices of the spit-roasted favorite steady as a strategy to retain

customers.

Shoppers who come in to purchase the rotisserie chicken are more likely to spend on other items while they’re inside the store, and the increased prices of other goods offset the losses.

CNN COMPANIES HOLDING $45 BILLION IN UNSOLD INVENTORY Last year big retailers hurried to add inventory in response to rising consumer demand and logistical constraints, resulting in $44.8 billion in inventories with a market value of around $1 billion — a 26% increase over last year.

Retailers are now facing a surplus of inventory and getting creative about moving their aging inventory, including cutting prices in slow-moving categories to make room for in-demand goods.

Bloomberg AMAZON TO OVERTAKE WALMART AS LARGEST US RETAILER BY 2024 According to CPG industry researcher Edge

by Ascential, Amazon will overtake Walmart as the largest U.S. retailer by 2024, increasing its U.S. retail market share from 10.8% to 14.9% while Walmart’s share is predicted to decrease from 13.2% to 12.7% between 2021 and 2026. E-commerce

continues to be the main catalyst of retail growth, and according to Deren Baker, CEO of Edge by Ascential, “it’s not a huge surprise that by gross merchandise value sales, our AI-powered forecasting software on Edge Retail Insight anticipates Amazon to overtake Walmart as the largest retailer in the U.S. by 2024.”

Supermarket News TARGET’S PROFIT CRASHED IN Q1 DUE TO FUEL EXPENSES Target’s sales were up in the first quarter, but profits suffered as fuel costs hit their supply chain, with operating income plummeting by 43.3% or nearly $1 billion.

According to Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan, Target faced freight and transportation expenses that were hundreds of millions of dollars more than already-high projections. The Q1 report forced the retailer to lower its expectations for its operating margin rate for the year from 8% to about 6%. Target also chose to give discounts in some discretionary categories to move surplus inventory and refresh its stores, which, when combined with freight expenses, reduced their gross margin rate by more than four percentage points.

Retail Dive

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Retail Association of Nevada • www.rannv.org

Important Information for SIG Members NRS requires all existing members of a self-insured group to be notified of all new members.

NRNSIG new members are listed below.

4 Sons Distributing LLC dba Morning Star Distributing NV La Luna Enterprises Inc dba V.I.P. Auto Service Center #5 Nevada Republican Party Central Committee Reckless in Vegas Production LLC dba Reckless in Vegas NRNSIG members who wish to register a negative vote on a new group member, please write NRNSIG at 575 S. Saliman Road, Carson City, NV 89701, indicating which member and the reason(s) for the negative vote.

Independence Day

John Adams predicted that Independence Day would be a huge celebration for many generations to come. In a letter he wrote to his wife, Abigail Adams, he declared that the day should be filled with games, sports, parades, and laughter. He basically wrote out our list of the best things to do the 4th of July!

The 50th star was added to the American flag on July 4, 1960, symbolizing Hawaii’s admission as the U.S.’s 50th state.

Americans consume a lot of hot dogs on the July 4th — about 150 million, to be exact.

“Workers’ comp that works for you” Retail Association of Nevada

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Membership Information: Find out more about RAN’s self insured group. Call Pro Group, 800-859-3177, or the RAN office at 775-882-1700 (toll free in Nevada 800-690-5959).

Don’t forget to check out our website, www.RANNV.org.

www.rannv.org • Retail Association of Nevada

Back to School Spending to Reach $491 Million Statewide

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ITH SUMMER WINDING DOWN, students and their families are headed to retailers across the Silver State to get ready for the new school year. The Retail Association of Nevada (RAN) estimates that backto-school shoppers will spend $490.5 million on clothes, backpacks and school supplies for the upcoming year. Back-toschool shopping is one of the biggest retail periods of the year, second only to the winter holidays.

“Back-to schoolshopping is a necessity for Nevada families of school-age children, and this year more families are

Spending Levels Up Despite Inflation Concerns cutting spending or relying on financing options to make sure their kids have everything they need to learn,” said Bryan Wachter, Senior Vice President of the Retail Association of Nevada.

“Spending on schoolrelated electronics surged during the pandemic to facilitate remote learning and continues to make up a majority of back-to-school spending.”

Campuses across Nevada will begin filling up through August, with Clark County schools starting on August 8 and Washoe County schools starting on August 15. Most colleges, including the University of Nevada campuses in Reno and Las Vegas and the College of Southern

Nevada, start classes on August 29.

RAN projects $346.3 million will be spent shopping for K-12 students, up 2.5 percent from last year. Electronics are expected to be the largest spending category at $117.4 million. Clothing and accessories sales came in at a close second with expected spending of $105.6 million, followed by shoes ($67.4 million) and school supplies ($55.9 million). On a national level, families with students in grades K-12 will spend $36.9 billion, based on a recent survey by the National Retail Federation (NRF), with average spending per household nationwide expected to be

$864.35, up from $848.90 last year.

With over 120,000 students enrolled in public and private colleges throughout Nevada, RAN estimates spending for students heading back to college will reach an estimated $144.2 million.

Electronics is expected to be the largest spending category at $36.1 million, followed by dorm and apartment furnishings ($20.5 million), clothing and accessories ($20.2 million) and food ($14.1 million). Nationwide, the NRF reports spending for college students is projected to reach $73.9 billion, with the average household spending $1,199.43. ■

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Retail Association of Nevada 410 South Minnesota Street Carson City, Nevada 89703-4272

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Retail Association of Nevada

Nevada News Nevada News is published by the Retail Association of Nevada, a nonpartisan, nonprofit corporation founded in 1969 representing the Retail Community, the Chain Drug Council and the Grocery Industry Council.

Mary F. Lau President/CEO Bryan Wachter Senior Vice President Elizabeth MacMenamin Vice President of Government Affairs Piper Brown Vice President, Finance and Administration Megan Bedera Editor Sue Arzillo, Alphabet Soup Inc. Newsletter Design & Layout

U.S. Ports Set Another Record as Volume Remains High and West Coast Contract Talks Continue

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MPORTS SET ANOTHER RECORD HIGH THIS SPRING AS THE nation’s major container ports worked to reduce congestion and retailers stocked up before dockworkers’ West Coast labor contract expired, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

National Retail Federation

“Cargo volume is expected to remain high as we head into the peak shipping season, and it is essential that all ports continue to operate with minimal disruption,” NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold said.

“Supply chain challenges will continue throughout the remainder of the year, and it is particularly important that labor and management at

West Coast ports remain at the bargaining table and reach an agreement.”

The contract between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association expired July 1, but cargo operations are continuing.

NRF and more than 150 groups wrote to President Biden last week asking the administration to work with both sides to avoid disruption.

Ports saw a surge in activity this spring as a slowdown in cargo from Chinese factories closed by COVID-19 gave them a chance to clear built-up congestion.

Retailers bringing in seasonal merchandise and importing other goods early to avoid any problems related to the contract negotiations may have also contributed. ■