Taxable retail sales here made substantial gains in the first quarter, according to figures released recently by the Washington state Department of Revenue.


In the city of Spokane, such sales grew 4.8 percent to about $717 million, from about $685 million in the year-earlier quarter. In the unincorporated areas of Spokane County, taxable retail sales grew 1.2 percent, to $467 million, up from $461 million. The new city of Spokane Valley was not yet incorporated in the first quarter, so its retail sales were included in the county figures.


Countywide, including the city of Spokane and other municipalities, retail sales increased 3.6 percent, to $1.25 billion, from about $1.21 billion in the year-earlier quarter.


The increase in the city being higher than the increase in the county is surprising to me, says Rich Hadley, president and CEO of the Spokane Regional Chamber of Commerce.


Hadley attributes the citys growth partly to what he calls the downtown renaissance.


In the first quarter of this year, the Davenport (Hotel) would have been open, while it wasnt open in the first quarter of last year, says Hadley. That might have created some spinoff impact in other parts of the citys core.


Meanwhile, the city of Cheney saw enormous growth in the first quarter, but that likely is because 2003s first-quarter figure is being compared with an unusual dip in sales Cheney suffered last year with the loss of two auto dealerships, says Grant Murie, that citys finance director. Taxable retail sales there grew almost 40.6 percent in the first quarter this year, to about $18.1 million, compared with about $12.9 million in the year-earlier quarter.


Taxable retail sales include sales at retail outlets, as well as sales in services, construction, contracting, manufacturing, transportation, and communications. The Department of Revenue released figures for first-quarter taxable retail-trade sales, which include only sales at retail outlets, Tuesday. Hadley says taxable retail-trade sales usually comprise about 60 percent of overall taxable retail sales.


The opening of the Davenport Hotel, as well as new restaurants, such as The Catacombs, helped spark interest in downtown Spokane last winter that lingered after the holiday shopping season, he says.


In January, the chamber asked business owners how the holidays went, Hadley says. They felt pretty good about it, but they also felt that retail interest had persisted past the holidays. People were looking for values in the new year.


Randy Barcus, chief economist for Avista Corp., says first-quarter retail sales were up because stores were, and still are, offering big discounts on merchandise.


We have relatively high unemployment, but good sales, he says. Everything is on sale, and consumers are flocking to the stores to take advantage of the discounts.


The city of Cheneys Murie says that citys first-quarter growth had a lot to do with comparison. Last year our sales were way down, and that was primarily due to the loss of two (auto) dealerships.


Bonanza Ford moved to the Interstate 90-Four Lakes interchange from downtown Cheney in August 2001. That same month, Choice Chevrolet closed its dealership in Cheney.


Murie couldnt say, though, why the figures had climbed back up. He says grocery and drugstore sales and sales associated with Eastern Washington University students usually hold fairly steady.


I dont have a real explanation why the sales jumped that much, he says. Youd have to sell a lot of toothbrushes to make a lot of money in sales tax at the grocery stores.


Comparatively, taxable retail sales were down 1.6 percent, to $7.9 billion, in all of King County. In all of Pierce County, such sales were up 5.5 percent, to $2.1 billion, and in Snohomish County, they were up 2.3 percent, to $1.7 billion. Taxable retail sales were up 2.8 percent in Tacoma, to $829 million, but were down 4 percent in Seattle, to $2.8 billion, and were down 2.9 percent in Everett, to $459 million.