By Dave Dahl

Pandemic or not, your friends and family are unlikely to go without this holiday season.

“Consumers appeared to have paid attention to the admonition to start much earlier,” said Illinois Retail Merchants Association president Rob Karr. “They did. It looks like it started in early October, so it will be interesting to see in early February, when we get the final numbers, exactly what it looked like.

“I think it will be a good season.”

That projected positive performance comes in spite of inflation and in spite of the much-publicized kinks in the supply chain. But Karr says people this season have had money in their pockets and have been ready and willing to spend it.

In the bigger picture, Karr says the effects of the pandemic have moved up changes such as the rise of remote shopping and the advances of technology. “We all have one eye in front of us and kind of one eye over our shoulder as we worry about what the next stage of the pandemic may or may not bring,” Karr said.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].