Wal-Mart makes county fastest gainer in retail sales

With a new Wal-Mart in town, Pullman booked a surge in retail activity for the last quarter of 2010, and Whitman County also benefited, the state Department of Revenue reported last week.

Retail sales in Whitman County grew faster than any other county in Washington state when compared to 2009.

More than $45.8 million worth of retail sales were made in Whitman County between October and December 2010, up 25 percent from the $36.7 million made during the same period of 2009.

Treasurer Robert Lothspeich said Wal-Mart has been the top generator of sales tax revenues in Whitman County since its doors opened in October.

While that increased revenue will help offset other sagging revenue categories, primarily interest on investments, Lothspeich said the lack of a retail tax revenue in Whitman County helped it withstand the recession.

“Because we really only ever had Shopko, we never felt the effects of this whole recession that a lot of other cities and counties that were dependent on shopping malls or retail centers felt,” said Lothspeich.

Pullman’s retail trade during fourth quarter 2010 raised 33 percent from 2009, jumping from $27 million to just shy of $36 million.

Lothspeich said the increased sales have been reflected in increased sales tax receipts. In the last three months of 2009, Whitman County collected $323,854 in sales taxes. The same period in 2010 generated $337,916 for the county’s coffers.

The Wal-Mart opening also helped capture retail trade that had been flowing into Moscow, said Lothspeich. Moscow’s Wal-Mart closed down when Pullman’s opened.

“I hear there’s a lot of (Idaho) license plates in the parking lot,” he said.

In October 2010, the county collected $107,568 in retail sales taxes, up from $91,797 in October 2009.

Across the state, retail sales raised 5.8 percent to more than $12.8 billion. Retail trade sales, which adds revenues from construction and other industrial sectors, climbed 5.8 percent from 2009 to $26.8 billion in the period.

Whitman County ranked 26 of the state’s 39 counties in retail sales.

Colfax saw retail sales fall to $3.8 million during the fourth quarter 2010 from just under $4 million in the same period 2009.