RETAIL
California’s Retail Picture Brightens
California fashion retail keeps growing.
Through booms and tough times of the past decade, the Golden State’s clothiers have grown steadily, according to data from the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
California saw a 10 percent increase in the number of stores in the past decade. The state sold jeans, basics, bikinis, T-shirts, caps, suits and dresses at 9,946 stores in 2013, the last year the BLS covered this category. The agency did not break down categories of stores—whether they are independent boutiques, big-box stores or department stores.
The BLS also found that California is a fashion retail juggernaut. More than 12 percent of the nation’s fashion retail employees work here. Their average wage is $20,000 annually, according to the BLS. Despite a steep fall during the Great Recession, employment and store counts have rebounded, according to the BLS report that was released in June.
