Forecasts revised, retail sales to climb
Retail sales for 2016 are expected to increase by 3.4 percent over the previous year, according to the National Retail Federation.
The trade association updated its earlier forecast of 3.1 percent after retail sales for the first half of the year grew close to 4 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to its calculations.
The federation said online and other nonstore sales are expected to grow 7 to 10 percent, an increase from earlier projections of 6 to 9 percent.
The federation's calculations exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants.
Matthew Shay, the federation's chief executive officer, said the improved housing market, job growth and higher wages have boosted consumer spending, which is expected to remain solid the rest of the year. But the federation also said factors such as presidential election uncertainty could make consumers more cautious.
"Challenges remain ... but consumer confidence remains high, and we believe that retail customers will continue the positive trends we have seen in the first two quarters of the year," Shay said in a news release.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Tri-State Truck OK'd for NLR dealership
Tri-State Truck Center has secured a $10.3 million building permit in North Little Rock.
Century Construction of Tupelo, Miss., is the contractor for the 85,000-square-foot project, which is set to begin next week at 8901 Diamond Drive. Clay Evans of Century Construction said the new dealership is scheduled to be complete in September 2017.
Memphis-based Tri-State Truck Center Inc. has nine locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and Arkansas. It employs more than 250 people in those states and currently operates a Little Rock dealership at 4614 Thibault Road.
Tri-State, founded in 1945, also has a dealership in Jonesboro.
-- Chris Bahn
Arkansas Index dips as U.S. stocks mixed
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 0.31 to 341.67 Thursday.
"U.S. stocks were mixed on Thursday as consumer staples and utilities topped the gains while telecom and energy underperformed," said John Blackwell, managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc.
Total volume for the index was 17.3 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 07/29/2016