Although Tumwater's sales rose, it's not because of the city's new Walmart store. The second quarter ended on June 30 and the Walmart store opened in July. The county's two largest cities -- Olympia and Lacey -- showed almost no gain in retail sales for the second quarter.
Still, overall Thurston County retail sales rose 2.19 percent to $946.5 million in the second quarter from $926.3 million in the second quarter of 2010. The year-over-year second-quarter data show:
-Olympia: Rose 0.38 percent to $426.6 million from $425 million.
-Lacey: Rose 0.53 percent to $224.7 million from $223.5 million.
-Tumwater: Rose 7.86 percent to $106 million from $98.3 million.
-Yelm: Rose 2.45 percent to $38.7 million from $37.8 million.
Revenue also reports a separate figure called retail trade, which is considered a better measurement of consumer purchases. The data show:
-Thurston County: Rose 3.22 percent to $477.6 million from $462.7 million.
-Olympia: Rose 3.8 percent to $271.1 million from $209.1 million.
-Lacey: Fell 0.75 percent to $136.2 milion from $137.2 million.
-Tumwater: Rose 4.61 percent to $50.1 million from $47.9 million.
-Yelm: Rose 4.74 percent to $23.7 million from $22.6 million.
Tumwater's rise in retail sales likely stems from summer shopping. A closer look at the second-quarter data show that retail sales generated by sales of electronics and appliances rose 100 percent to $2.7 million from $1.3 million.
Olympia retail sales were helped by sales of new and used vehicles -- up 8.6 percent -- but sales generated by construction fell 22.1 percent to $55 million from $70 million. Lacey, meanwhile, bucked a trend in construction as retail sales rose 5.68 percent to $20.9 million from $19.8 million.
Statewide, taxable retail sales rose 2.9 percent in the second quarter to $25.6 billion.
