Census counts a boost in industry sales

Building materials and garden supply stores were up 2.8 percent month-over-month seasonally adjusted and up 6.5 percent unadjusted year-over-year.

That data for NAICS 444 retailers was released Tuesday morning as part of a Census Bureau report showing robust gains for U.S. retailers. Overall retail sales (excluding gasoline stations) were up 14.1% over October 2020.

Here’s the breakdown for hardware and building supply retailers on an annual and monthly basis:

NAICS 444 monthly sales (unadjusted)
• October 2021: $40.038 billion
• October 2020: $37.582 billion
• % change: up 6.5%

NAICS 444 monthly sales (adjusted)
• October 2021: $40.452 billion
• September 2021: $39.351 billion
• % change: up 2.8%.

Sales for NAICS 44413 retailers – hardware stores – are not included in the bureau’s Advance report. But for September, hardware store sales (a subset of NAICS 444) were reported at $2.820 billion, up from $2.760 in the same month a year ago.

"October’s robust sales numbers indicate that consumers are responding to the many factors impacting retail as we head into the holidays,” said Dave Bruno, director or retail market insights at Aptos, a retail technology company. “People are shopping early to minimize the risk of supply chain disruptions and inventory outages impacting their holiday gift-giving. And, despite the recent inflationary trends, consumer confidence and buying power are both high.”