Landscape Management, December 2015
Industry Pulse CUSTOMER REPORT Spending again Consumer confidence indicators are good although the election year brings uncertainty By Marisa PalMieri D espite some concern about the impending election year affecting consumer confdence most landscape industry members say their customers had no problem spending money in 2015 and they expect the same in 2016 Derek Blumberg for example says politics is one area of uncertainty for him Hes the owner of Quality Seasons a 2 million full service residential landscape company based in Lakeville Minn Im fairly concerned but I dont go to sleep at night worrying about it he says The 2016 presidential election could change things but no matter the outcome Blumberg says he plans to do a price increase in 2016 because he wont do one in 2017 We dont want to raise prices the spring after an election he says There can be a lot of emotions going on Consumer market Speaking of emotions the latest Conference Board Consumer Confdence Index data show consumers AverAge prices reported 2014 2015 chAnge Maintenance price visit 195 53 203 57 4 8 Design build price job 20420 11148 23007 12891 11 16 Lawn care treatment price visit 125 69 132 79 1 15 Irrigation maintenance price hour 65 60 71 65 10 8 54 LANDSCAPEMANAGEMENT NET December 2015 photo istock com pepo123 were more confdent this October with a reading of 991 compared to a baseline of 100 in 1985 than they have been any of the past few years at this time The October readings were 945 in 2014 712 in 2013 due to the government shutdown and 722 in 2012 A similar indicator the University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment also showed improvement at 931 for its early November reading a level higher than any year since 2004 The report noted consumers held the most favorable infation adjusted income expectations since 2007 and buying plans for large discretionary purchases improved Continued on page 56 Commercial Residential service pricing Commercial Residential Commercial Residential Commercial Residential
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