Latest news with #RetailersAssociationofMassachusetts
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Massachusetts will be sales tax-free this weekend. Here's what that means.
'The sales tax holiday is a wonderful opportunity for our residents to get out into their communities, support local businesses, get their kids ready for school in fall or make a purchase that they've been putting off,' said State Senator Adam Gómez, a Springfield Democrat who helped set the date for this year's holiday, in a statement. Any eligible retail items that are individually priced under $2,500 purchased in Massachusetts Advertisement Still, that leaves plenty of room for savings on big-ticket items such as electronics, appliances, furniture, and jewelry. 'It creates a level of excitement in some shoppers,' said Bill Rennie, vice president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, in a Thursday interview. 'It adds an important incentive to get consumers back into the stores, at a typically slow point in the retail calendar.' Related : Advertisement Certain purchases do not qualify for the sales tax exemption, including meals. That means, if you end up dining out at Other purchases not covered by the exemption include motor vehicles (including motorboats); utilities such as gas, steam, electricity, and telecommunications; and drugs such as alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana products. Nevertheless, Rennie said the sales tax holiday is a 'proven winner' for Massachusetts retailers, which campaigned to codify the exemption as an annual event. 'Black Friday, that's always been a big event in the calendar,' he said. 'But I'll tell you this: we do have furniture members, some appliance sellers as well, where the sales tax holiday is still the biggest weekend of the year.' It helps that the August sales tax holiday comes 'Not a lot of people get furniture as a gift, right?' Rennie said. 'But furniture always does very well on the sales tax holiday. It makes sense that it's a real big weekend for that category.' Though the Retailers Association doesn't track specific data for sales tax weekend, Rennie said that, historically, a business might make 'five or six times' the sales of a typical summer weekend. Advertisement 'It gets people to come out shopping,' he said. 'Whether they're going to different locations, maybe they're going to the mall, they end up in different stores, making impulse buys. And, historically, impulse buys are 30 percent of all purchases.' Any businesses that erroneously charge sales tax on eligible items this weekend are required to refund customers with valid receipts or proof of purchase for any tax erroneously paid, officials said. Businesses must also remit wrongly-collected sales tax to the Department of Revenue. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at
Bloomberg
5 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Boston Business Leaders Back Tax-Cut Ballot Proposals for 2026
A coalition of Massachusetts business organizations is pushing for two new tax-relief proposals to appear on the ballot in the 2026 election, arguing the state's high costs are undermining its economic competitiveness. The leaders of the Massachusetts High Technology Council, the local chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business and the Retailers Association of Massachusetts were among the first signatories on a measure announced on Wednesday that would gradually reduce the state income tax to 4% from the current rate of 5%. A separate proposal that the business groups are also supporting would limit how much tax revenue can be collected in any given year.
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Good news for back-to-school shoppers: Tariffs haven't hit prices — yet
Casey Wilkinson, an assistant principal at the Davis School in Brockton, has bought most of her son's school supplies online, and like Hall, she's got no complaints about tariffs. 'As of right now,' Wilkinson said, 'I haven't seen any sign of a dramatic increase in prices.' With back-to-school shopping in full swing, there's little evidence that the Trump administration's tariff campaign is weighing heavily on consumers. Advertisement Retail data indicates that prices are rising, but so far only modestly. And there's no sign of the shortages that many economists feared back when President Trump threatened tariffs of up to 145 percent on imports from China. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up On the contrary, Jon B. Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said his member retailers have plenty of everything, and not just for returning scholars. Hurst said that local stores have already laid in a lot of merchandise for the Christmas season as well. 'They're all set for back-to-school and most of them are all set for the holidays,' he said. Boston families are hardcore about back-to-school shopping. Advertisement But tariffs aren't pushing this number much higher, because wholesale prices for imports have not spiked. 'There's been some assumptions that suppliers and distributors would build in some price increases in anticipation, but that really hasn't been seen yet,' he said. 'They're really taking the risk upon themselves.' One reason for the good news: Trump's retreat from his April 2 'Liberation Day' plan, which would have imposed massive tariff increases on nearly every country in the world. Global markets plummeted after the plan was announced, and containers full of merchandise piled up at foreign ports, raising fears of empty shelves in US retail stores. Trump announced a few days later that he would put the most severe tariff increases on hold, though he still raised tariffs worldwide by 10 percent and for most Chinese products by 30 percent. Prior to the Liberation Day pause, US importers had slashed their orders, due to uncertainty about tariff costs, said Michael Goldman, general manager for North America at 'When that suspension was announced, everybody got off the sidelines,' said Goldman. Container ships stuffed with imports flocked to US ports, looking to land their cargoes before Trump changed his mind again. 'Whether it was on purpose or not,' said Goldman, the tariff pause 'allowed the supply chains to have moments to normalize themselves.' As a result, he said, 'I am not seeing any data that suggests there's going to be any big issue with supply.' Advertisement Still, the tariffs on these goods were substantially higher than before, and somebody's got to pay. But so far, consumers seem to be getting off easy. The Globe used data from For example, a student backpack that sold for $23.65 in July of 2024 was priced at $27.97 this year. Notebook paper that cost $5.99 last year was priced at $6.99 last week. An HP desktop computer monitor that cost $80 last year had increased in price to $107, and a West Bend dormitory-style mini-fridge that cost $150 last year had risen to $175. There were a few price drops as well. A Crayola art kit decreased from $18.29 last year to $16.55, and a pair of New Balance children's shoes declined from $49.95 to $29.95. This is a very small sample, and there's no way to link these price changes to the tariffs. But data from the Harvard Business School show that tariffs are nudging up the prices for many consumer goods. The HBS Pricing Lab's The researchers found that prices for imported products increased almost immediately whenever the Trump administration announced higher tariffs, like the worldwide 10 percent tariff imposed in April. Prices of domestic goods also rose along with the tariffs, though by a smaller amount. The Harvard researchers said many US manufacturers must themselves pay tariffs for imported equipment and supplies they can't get domestically. In turn, these companies pass their tariff costs to consumers. Advertisement But while retailers have been quick to raise prices, they're not raising them by much. The Tariff Tracker found that price increases for imports have averaged about 3 percent, much lower than the tariff increases. 'Tariffs are often expected to produce a one-time jump in price levels, but our data show that firms rarely pass through the full cost immediately,' said Harvard Business School professor Alberto Cavallo. 'Instead, they raise prices gradually, especially when there is uncertainty around how long the tariffs will last or how broad they will be.' But how long can this go on? Cavallo thinks that more of the tariff cost will gradually trickle down to consumers. 'We expect the passthrough to continue unfolding over time, keeping inflation elevated in certain categories for many months,' he said. But Hurst thinks bigger price hikes are months away. 'We're talking about 2026,' he said. 'If they go up, to the extent that they do, that's when we'll feel it.' Hiawatha Bray can be reached at
Boston Globe
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Four years ago, Mayor Wu said shoplifters shouldn't be prosecuted. Now shoplifting is up in Boston. Funny how that works.
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Why Democrats? Because voters know whose fault it is that they have to ask for locked-up face wash: Progressives preached a soft-on-crime message that's now coming back to haunt them. Advertisement It was now-disgraced Suffolk district attorney Rachael Rollins who in 2018 announced she would stop prosecuting shoplifters. That same year, state law raised the threshold for felony larceny from $250 to $1,200. Running for mayor in 2021, Wu Advertisement Progressives signaling leniency on low-level crimes is undoubtedly part of why shoplifting was up in the city, and across the state. Overall, the Retailers Association of Massachusetts Not only does toothpaste under lock and key create an ominous image, rampant shoplifting can affect the This problem hasn't been unique to Boston — progressive cities across the country have Now running for reelection, Wu still isn't willing to acknowledge the part she has played in normalizing policies that wreck quality of life. I asked her in May if she regretted supporting Rollins's reform. She dodged the question, but told me that during her time as mayor 'there has been full accountability for shoplifting' and then said it's 'not the purview of the mayor or the police department to have any role in prosecutorial discretion.' But boasting of 'full accountability' takes some nerve — that's only happening because District Attorney Kevin Hayden ignored the politicians like Wu who supported Rollins's policy. And while Wu continues to vocally tout Boston's status as the safest city in America because of its low homicide rates, she's been backpedaling to address its pervasive quality-of-life issues. In that same interview she highlighted Hayden's 'Safe Shopping Initiative,' which Advertisement When it comes to drug crimes, she's also had to tweak her progressive Better late than never. In his blog post, Auchincloss wrote that 'degradations to public order also matter. Drug use, loitering, panhandling, encampments, vandalism, shoplifting — these compound into lawlessness,' he wrote. 'There's nothing compassionate or progressive about permitting them.' The last part is key. Much of the criminal justice reform of the past five years has been an effort to decrease racism in policing and prosecuting. But take that mission too far, and you start condoning crime in the name of justice. And while some low-level offenders come from difficult circumstances that might warrant giving them a second chance, that's a decision that should be made by a discerning judge or prosecutor. When decriminalization becomes a ruling party's policy, then everyone is invited to heap onto the disorder. This doesn't just decrease the quality of life in progressive cities like Boston — it erodes trust in the Democratic Party to operate at the most basic levels. Auchincloss is one of few Massachusetts Democrats willing to identify this weakness, but others should join him if they want to reverse the Advertisement If a party can't even keep a shampoo bottle safe, how's it supposed to effectively govern millions of people? Carine Hajjar is a Globe Opinion writer. She can be reached at
Boston Globe
28-05-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Healey, moving to cut red rape and burnish business-friendly chops, unveils dozens of regulatory changes
Advertisement 'What's most important is the mindset, [the] message that we heard,' said Jim Rooney, president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. 'This administration has that mindset of trying to deal with issues that are burdensome for people in businesses.' The various regulatory amendments followed a Her administration ultimately reviewed 150 sets of regulations. Healey said her administration is ultimately 'cutting down' 38 of them, many of which may appear minor, if not esoteric, to most consumers. One would Advertisement Grocery stores and supermarkets would no longer have to make parts of so-called Healey said the Division of Insurance would also no longer require banks and insurance companies to submit paper copies of filings in many instances. 'We'll save some trees in the process,' Healey said as she fed a prop piece of paper into the whirring shredder. 'It's about making sure that we have the right regulations [and] smart regulations.' Healey isn't the first governor to boast of slashing red tape for businesses. Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat, boasted in his final year in office in 2014 having led a review of nearly 1,800 regulations, and Months after taking office in 2015, his successor, Charlie Baker ordered a wide-scale review of 'onerous' regulations. The move immediately Jon Hurst, president of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts, said many of Patrick and Baker's efforts ultimately had 'little or nothing to show' for it. Advertisement He said his own members had raised to their administrations concerns about the unit pricing rules or the state's so-called hoisting regulations — think forklifts, Hurst said — without ever seeing action on them. Healey on Wednesday offered changes to the latter, including removing the requirement that hoisting engineering applicants communicate in English. Those moves are encouraging, Hurst said, even if 'these were the easy ones, right?' 'The hard ones are yet to come,' he said, pointing to the potential for tackling escalating health insurance costs for businesses — a shift that could require legislation, is often complicated, and usually 'politically fraught.' 'We're just kind of just hitting the surface at this point,' he said. Healey called Wednesday's announcement a 'first set of cuts and reforms,' though she did not indicate where or what rules her administration would review next. Healey's first term, and her bid next year to remain in office, will likely hinge in part on whether she's met her repeated promise to shed Massachusetts' tax-heavy label and She ran on realizing, and signed, a Advertisement Both Republicans who've announced challenges to Healey — former MBTA executive 'Massachusetts [is] bleeding businesses, private sector jobs and workers,' Holly Robichaud, a Shortsleeve adviser, said in a statement Wednesday. Matt Stout can be reached at
