Austin's Yuppies find Target most appealing

Discount Store News, Dec 14, 1987

"Real estate is a killer," UT's Smith said. Developers put in place more non-residential construction in Austin in 1985 than in either New York, Philadelphia or St. Louis, he said.

Now Austin suffers from a 28 percent office vacancy rate (although down from 35 percent) and retail and apartment vacancy rates in the high teens.

Most of the increase in Austin's unemployment rate to 6.9 percent as of July 1987 from 5.6 percent in 1986 resulted from the loss of 4,100 construction jobs, Smith said.

Retail sales reflect the softer economy. They grew to $6.06 billion (excluding food) in 1985 from $3.85 billion in 1982, Texas Department of Commerce figures show. Last year, sales slipped to $5.74 billion. For 1987, retail sales will dip further to $5.5 billion, Angelou predicts.

State Commerce figures for the first quarter of 1987--the latest available--show retail sales totaled $1.34 billion for the Austin metro market, down slightly from $1.36 billion in the same period in 1986.

Despite flat population growth in 1987, the Austin population will grow 17.4 percent to 860,400 by 1991, projects the 1987 Survey of Buying Power of Sales & Marketing Management magazine.

Per household retail sales will gain 25 percent to $21,143 by 1991 from $16,907 in 1986, the survey projects.

Table: MARKET BASKET: Austin, Texas

Prices on 60 selected products sold at all three chains

Photo: Austin boasts a service economy relatively insulated from the Oil Patch woes that have hit other Texas cities, particularly Houston.

Photo: In Austin market research, K mart's pricing was highest on half the items surveyed.