Long Islanders loosening purse strings, slightly

Consumers who were once shopping strictly for necessities have begun to make purchases to replace old items and spruce up their homes, helping to increase retail sales in April for the seventh consecutive month, retail experts said.

"We are not out of the woods yet," said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst for the NPD Group, a Port Washington market research firm. "But consistently these numbers are showing the consumer is tired of living in a bubble of not spending. So now they are going from spending only on necessities to buying replenishments - the washer that's leaking - going beyond repairs and spending."

Commerce Department figures showed retail sales last month increased 0.4 percent from March and went up 8.8 percent from the April 2009 level. Excluding auto sales, last month's retail sales grew 7.6 percent from the same period last year.

Businesses selling building material and garden equipment and supplies saw the biggest increases, with a 6.9 percent increase in sales from March and a 12.1 percent jump from sales in April 2009.

Apparel sales decreased by 1 percent compared with March levels, but rose nearly 6 percent compared with sales in April 2009.

"Things seem more optimistic and it was time to go shopping," said Jackie Vecker, 53, an accountant from Woodbury who was enjoying Friday's sunshine and browsing the racks at Ooh La La boutique in Huntington with her daughter, Alix Vecker, 23.

Neither considers herself extravagant and both said they are careful about spending - especially Alix, who has returned to graduate school. "But we're definitely spending," Jackie Vecker said.

The warm weather also prompted Elisa Eletto, 34, of Huntington, to shop Friday, deciding her spring wardrobe needed an "infusion." But, she said, she has actually been spending less, buying more sales items and saving a lot more than she did previously.

"I just think that in light of what's going on in the economy, you don't want to just spend money like you used to," said Eletto, a real estate agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman. "It's tacky."

Retail experts interpreted the Commerce Department report as generally positive, although they all cautioned that the increases from April 2009 are comparisons to a period of severely repressed retail sales.

Rising gas prices, especially in the summer months, signal trouble on the horizon for retail sales, said Britt Beemer, chief executive and founder of America's Research Group, the Charleston, S.C., consumer research and marketing firm.

Still, the consumer psyche has been lifted by a stream of mostly good news, and that lift is reflected in the rise in sales related to home improvement goods, said Joel R. Evans, a professor at Hofstra University's Zarb School of Business.

"Long Islanders take a lot of pride in their homes and spend a lot of money on repairs, maintenance and gardening," Evans said. "It's a good manifestation of ourselves and makes us feel better and it is an overall sign of people starting to feel better."