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72 September 2015 | beautystorebusiness.com News salonproducts@americandawn.com Orders: 800 627 5839 15" x 25" 16" x 27" 12" x 12" 16" x 29" intage Jacket Barber V ld Fashioned C h a i r / H a i r C l o t h O FREE SAMPLES! EMAIL SALONPRODUCTS@AMERICANDAWN.COM NRF REVISES ECONOMIC FORECAST The National Retail Federation has lowered its retail sales forecast for 2015 because of unexpected slow growth recorded during the first half of the year—similar to the industry's experience in 2014. However, the NRF expects sales will steadily increase through the remainder of the year. NRF forecasted in February that retail sales would grow 4.1% in 2015 over 2014, but its revision in July lowers the forecast to 3.5%. NRF calculated that sales grew 2.9% during the first half of 2015 and are expected to grow at a more posi- tive pace of 3.7% over the last five months of 2015. The estimates include general retail sales and non-store sales, and exclude automobiles, gas stations and restaurants. Revised non-store sales are now expected to grow between 6% and 8%, still within the 7% to 10% range originally forecast. "For years consumer spending has been hampered by lackluster growth in our economy," says NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. "Much of that blame can be shifted to Washington where too much time has been spent crafting rules and regulations that almost guarantee negative consequences for consumers and American busi- nesses alike. Until the government and our elected leaders get serious about enacting policies that lift consumer confidence, create economic growth and spur investment, we will continue this trend of solid, but not exceptional, performance in the economy." Shay adds, "Despite all of these hurdles, we are optimistic that consumer spending during the second half of the year will benefit from recent improvements in the housing and labor markets along with lower energy costs, and believe consumer confidence will grow enough to bolster retail purchases for the year." NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz states, "A confluence of events, including treacherous weather throughout the United States through most of the winter, issues at the West Coast ports, a stronger U.S. dollar, weak foreign growth and declines in energy-sector investments all significantly and negatively impacted retail sales so far this year, and thus have changed how future sales will shape up for the rest of 2015. Additionally, household spending patterns appear to have shifted purchases toward services and away from goods, though this may be transitory." HALAL COSMETICS EXHIBIT TO DEBUT Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna 2016 will include a new special exhibit dedicated to halal-certifi ed cosmetics—a booming worldwide consumer trend, especially in the Middle East and in south Asia. The initiative is being developed in partnership and under the supervision of the Italian halal-certifi cation organization—World Halal Development—which will also provide marketing support. "Halal beauty products are more and more appreciated also from non-Muslim consumers thanks to the great attention paid to natural ingredients in the production process, fair trade and eco-sustainability," says World Halal Development president Annamaria Aisha Tiozzo. Image courtesy of Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna