CITY ONE OF TOP RETAIL MARKETS SURVEY SHOWS SALES EXCEED $2 BILLION.

Byline: JUDY O'ROURKE

Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA -- Vigorous sales have propelled Santa Clarita into the ranks of the top 25 retail markets in the state -- topping Pasadena, Thousand Oaks and Santa Monica -- according to a market survey issued this week.

Santa Clarita was among the 100 cities surveyed with sales of more than $1 billion annually.

"Santa Clarita's retail sales exceeded $2 billion," said Jason Crawford, the city's interim manager of economic development. "The city's retail market is very strong, and we expect it to continue increasing."

Each year, the California Retail Survey evaluates the states' nearly 500,000 retailers and issues its report, which is relied on by private sector and government leaders.

The rankings take into account dollar volume of sales, sales at each outlet and growth rates.

Despite the flurry of sales, many in the city of 180,000 drive over the hill to patronize restaurants and shops that don't have a presence in Santa Clarita. The city is aiming to stem the flow, Crawford said. "We see an opportunity to increase our retail sales by attracting those retail and restaurants that residents are leaving to patronize," he said.

"You have continued population growth, a lot of the home prices have moved up so it's growing in the middle- to upper-income family ranges, and the city is growing its business base," said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the L.A. County Economic Development Corporation. "That's important to a lot of retailers because people can stop in at lunch or stop in after work and do some shopping."

Santa Clarita was among five finalists last year when the EDC, a business advocacy group, named it the county's most business-friendly city.

judy.orourke(at)dailynews.com

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