Retail sales in health and beauty rise as other aspects in economy fall

PHILADELPHIA Makeup sales are continuing to rise, even though retail sales in February were down 0.9 percent according to published reports.

Commerce department figures estimate that sales in health products and personal care stores have risen to 0.5 percent from January to February and overall sales are up 4.5 percent from a year ago. A company that tracks retail spending, the NPD group, has also estimated that $8.9 billion were spent in department stores on cosmetics alone.

Kathy Grannis, a spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation explains this increase: “It more or less speaks to the fact that consumers are continuing to buy necessities, which would be their toiletries and health and beauty care needs.”

Many other analysts also agree that purchasing of beauty products are ultimately less expensive, and people are more inclined to buy more of them, hence the increase in retail sales in cosmetics. According to published reports, statistics show that an increase in makeup sales is not a new discovery, as during a recession in 2001 similar sales were up 23 percent.