Illinois Business Journal Illinois Business Journal
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Skyrocketing gas, food prices sustain retail sales numbers
By KERRY L. SMITH

   Economists say that although the latest retail sales numbers look favorable overall, gasoline sales - closely followed by food - are grabbing a larger and larger percentage total consumer spending.
   Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research for MasterCard Advisors, says year to year comparisons of retail sales figures - April 2008 to April 2007 - shows sales are growing at approximately 4.5 percent per year. But the problem with that overly optimistic statistic, says Rao, is that it includes gasoline purchases.

. Consumers are all but happy with continually upwardly spiraling gas prices nationwide. Economists say retail sales show modest growth on the whole, but more and more retail spending is coming from gasoline sales.
   "They continue to eat up a bigger and bigger share of people's wallets," he said. "Once you take out both auto and gasoline sales, retail sales in April 2008 grew by 3.2 percent. We've certainly seen strong growth rates in the past. We're probably growing by about 2 1/2 fewer percentage points than we were at this time last year."
   Another number that continues to drive retail sales higher, according to Rao, is food prices. "During this time, people are concentrating on very few sectors of retail sales such as staples and necessities - gasoline, food and personal care items where price [continue]

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As ban continues, upstate casinos market to non-smokers

. . By KERRY L. SMITH

   With statewide casino revenues down more than 17 percent since the Smoke-free Illinois Act became law Jan. 1, some casinos here are proactively marketing to a slice of their market share that isn't being drawn competitively to bordering states' casinos: non-smokers.

   Two upstate Illinois casinos - Harrah's Joliet Hotel and Casino and Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino in East Peoria - are marketing using newspaper, billboards and radio to market their now 100 percent "smoke-free air" to a market share they estimate is as high as 40 percent.
   Doug Lima, vice president of marketing at Harrah's in Joliet, says this marketing campaign doesn't take the place of the organization's mainstay advertising, but it's a strategy to try to bring in new revenue to replace the dollars being lost as smoking players head to nearby states such as Indiana that do not have a smoking ban.
   "We've definitely put a serious emphasis on marketing to non-smokers," said Lima. "We started working on our plans in mid year last year in terms of our marketing approach. It's really a positive message to non-smokers that there's a clean-air environment now for them to game in. Right now that active, non-smoking market represents just about 40 percent of our active database. It's pretty significant. Quite frankly, I thought it was going to be even higher than that," he added. [continue]

IDOT must fill $49 million gap on new bridge project by 2010
By ALAN J. ORTBALS

   Despite the fact that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt signed an agreement in February to build the new Mississippi River Bridge, there is a looming obstacle that could still derail the project. The final piece of the construction funding is contained in the elusive capital bill that has been stalled in the Illinois General Assembly.
   According to Mary Lamie, deputy director of highways and region 5 engineer of the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation requires that the project be fully funded before [continue]