Carry-out and delivery pizza chain Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza has reached Colorado Springs, off Powers Boulevard and North Carefree Circle.

Owner Terry Holmes also purchased the franchise rights for all of El Paso County. He envisions opening eight to 10 more Garlic Jim's in the area.

"Colorado Springs is ... one of the better places in the country to start a business right now, I think," Holmes said. "This is the place to be with all of the growth on this side of town, and we fully intend to be all over the city."

Garlic Jim's also has a store in Highlands Ranch.

Gloomy holiday season

The National Retail Federation projects sales for the 2008 holiday season will increase 2.2 percent to $470 billion. In comparison, holiday sales growth has averaged 4.4 percent during the past 10 years.

The 2.2 percent increase would represent the slowest growth since 2002, when holiday sales rose 1.3 percent.

Economic indicators point to a challenging holiday for retailers.

A struggling housing market and rising unemployment accompanied by meager income gains will continue to hamper consumers throughout the season. Food and energy costs also will remain high.

With the current financial industry crisis continuing to erode consumer confidence, NRF predicts a sour economic outlook for at least the first half of 2009 as well.

Nike reports revenue hike

Nike Inc. reported revenue of $5.4 billion for its first fiscal quarter of 2009, a 17 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

Although the company's net income fell 10 percent, changes in currency exchange rates helped revenue grow by seven percentage points. Future orders for athletic footwear and apparel scheduled for delivery from September through January also grew by 10 percent.

The company repurchased more than 7 million shares of stock during the quarter as part of a $3 billion plan approved during 2006, and announced an additional $5 billion repurchase plan.

Gift card spending ebbs

Archstone Consulting's 2008 Holiday Gift Card Survey examined the shopping habits of more than 1,000 consumers and found that gift card sales are expected to dip 5 percent to $25 billion this holiday season as consumers continue to manage the challenges of higher gas prices, higher food prices and a sluggish economy.

The survey found that only 24 percent of consumers plan to increase their spending on gift cards this year.

However, potential retail bankruptcies and the potential loss of card value didn't appear to be factors in the lower sales.

Like 2007, prepaid bank cards are expected to continue to be the most desired by gift recipients this year, but the restaurant and fast food category is still likely to sell more cards than any other category.

Teenage and post-college consumers will make up a large portion of the gift card purchases. Sales of the gift cards through outside locations, such as grocery, drug stores, banks and kiosks are expected to grow by 30 percent compared to 2007.

Credit: Scott Prater

(Copyright 2008 Dolan Media Newswires)

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