Douglas sales finally see some benefit from Target

Target showed up on Douglas County sales tax collections in November, accounting for the lion's share of an 18 percent increase over the same month of 1999.

The store just south of the Carson City line opened in early October, but no real increase showed up in that month's tax numbers.

For November, however, the total taxable sales by general merchandise stores in Douglas jumped from $318,029 to $2,506,030.

Those numbers were helped by substantial increases in a couple of other areas. Industrial and commercial machinery sales went up 95 percent to $1.1 million, and building materials and hardware increased 27 percent to $3.5 million for the month. Auto dealers and gasoline sales were also up - 16 percent.

Overall, total sales in the county rose from $29.5 million in November 1998 to $34.8 million this past November - half of it attributable to the new Target store.

And Douglas officials expect even more once the new Home Depot opens near Target next week.

Carson City, meanwhile, reported sales essentially flat compared to last year. The half-percent increase brought totals for November to $57.2 million.

And in the general merchandise category, Carson sales were down $800,000 for the month - a 6.6 percent drop to $11.5 million.

Carson City, however, was off in several other key categories, including 16.6 percent down in food sales and 13.4 percent in home furnishings, while building materials and hardware sales were flat.

Thirty-seven of 63 business categories reporting to the state were in the red for the month.

Those decreases were offset by a 21.1 percent increase in auto dealer and gasoline sales, Carson's biggest category, which reported $14.4 million in sales.

Lyon County, meanwhile, reported a 7.2 percent increase in total sales for the month to $19.6 million. The biggest increase for the month was in the miscellaneous retail category, which increased more than 300 percent to $5.4 million in sales.

Food store sales were up 31.4 percent to $1.7 million and auto dealers and gas sales up 26.6 percent to $2.6 million. Furniture store sales increased 128 percent in Lyon compared to a year ago November.

Statewide taxable sales were up 6.6 percent in November over the same month of the previous year to $2.32 billion.

Eating and drinking places recorded a 15.9 percent increase with auto dealers and gasoline sales up 16.5 percent and general merchandise stores up 12.5 percent.