Travel took a beating in 2021, but retailers that sold camping equipment and outdoor goods saw impressive increases. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Academy Sports and Camping World all saw double-digit comparable store changes; Bass Pro Shops does not disclose its same-store sales.
While many looked to get out of the home with activities like camping, there was no denying that lockdowns kept us all at home — and sometimes that proved lacking. Whether it was to accommodate a new everything-from-home environment or just tiring of looking at bland wall colors, home improvement retailers reaped the rewards of customer desires to renovate, remodel and redo.
Learn more about the 2021 top 100 retailers list.
The Home Depot, in particular, saw tremendous growth, landing in the No. 4 spot on the Top 100 Retailers list and increasing same-store sales by 19.7 percent over 2019. Lowe’s saw same-store sales increase 26.1 percent; Ace and Menards do not disclose same-store comparisons.
Telecom and electronics largely held their own — outside of Best Buy, which saw almost double-digit increases. But David Marcotte, senior vice president at Kantar, is watching the impact of the global chip shortage on telecom.
“Consumer electronics is hot and will continue to be hot, but it’s becoming problematic to get product,” Marcotte said. Giant phone maker Samsung has announced it might skip a generation of its Galaxy phone because of difficulty in getting the chip parts. “Consumer electronics becomes something to watch, and not necessarily for good reasons.”
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