VANCOUVER, Wash. — New data regarding Clark County's retail sales shows booming growth in comparison to other counties in Washington.
Experts believe that Clark County is growing up and has been for years. The Vancouver waterfront is a prime example of a "build it and they will come" atmosphere. The sleepy bedroom community of Clark County is a thing of the past. Single family homes, condominiums and apartment buildings are going up and filling up.
U. N. Umesh is a professor of marketing and international business at Washington State University (WSU) in Vancouver.
"Clark County is booming. .... The number one reason is people are moving into Clark County and staying here; they even shop here," Umesh said.
The numbers back the professor up. The Washington Department of Revenue just released retail sales figures for the 2023 third quarter. Overall they show the state slumping a bit, down about a tenth of a percentage point. But not Clark County, where taxable retail sales climbed 1.69%.
Compare that to King County — home to Seattle — where retail sales dipped 0.97%, and Pierce County with its county seat of Tacoma, where sales dropped almost 5% during that period.
Clark County has grown by about 100,000 people since 2010. Umesh said the county is very good at attracting people with good incomes from Portland. Currently, Portland is seen as struggling on several fronts.
Part of the attraction north of the river is no income tax. With more people working from home, it makes a difference — giving people more money, and no need to go into Oregon to spend it.
KGW ventured out to Vancouver’s Uptown Village neighborhood to see if Main Street retailers feel the positive spending trend.
At the Hi School Ace Hardware store, it's the busy season — and weather plays a part in sales.
"We had a much better April this year, which is kickoff lawn and garden for us," said longtime businessman John Crawford, who operates and manages a chain of ACE Hardware stores in southwest Washington.
Crawford added that the third quarter was good for them last year.
"And so far this year, it's turned out pretty good for us because we're right with last year's figures — and those were pretty good," he said.
Umesh said he sees more positivity to come for places like Clark County, likely at the expense of the biggest cities.
"You're going to see this trend continue for 10, 15, 20 years and maybe cities are at crossroads," Umesh said. "And at this particular time they have to figure out how to get people back."