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Posted on: December 20, 2021

Sioux Center Retail Sales Leading Northwest Iowa

Two people look at furniture

Sioux Center retail sales showed strong growth in the 2020-21 fiscal year, continuing to lead the county and area in annual retail sales. The community’s retail sales set a new high at $180.8 million for July 2020-June 2021, a 6% increase from the prior fiscal year.

“There was a remarkable jump in 2020-21, and not just because of the impact of COVID the year before. This is the first time these numbers are able to show the impact of Siouxnami Waterpark being fully open,” said Dean Gabhart, who manages Sioux Center’s Centre Mall and tracks state retail reports. “This increase also reflects the high level of construction in the community. People are building, hiring local contractors, buying furnishings.”

In those 12 months, Sioux Center saw $6 million in new residential construction and $46 million in new commercial construction.

Retail sales in Sioux Center nearly double the state average. Per capita, retail sales in Iowa are about $12,700 per year, as recorded in 2019. Sioux Center’s are $22,650. 

Sioux Center continues to have a strong role in Sioux County, bringing in 42% of retail sales with just 22% of the county’s population. The community captures trade equivalent to a city with a population of 13,700. This is the third year Sioux Center’s sales have topped nearby Le Mars, which has a population of more than 10,000.

“People are coming to Sioux Center to shop and do business,” Gabhart said. “Sioux Center has consistently increased its retail sales over the past 20 years, probably 30. The trajectory is always up.”

These numbers can help Sioux Center attract retail and industry and help people who may be considering creating a new business and getting financing to open it in Sioux Center.

“It is a way of showing potential business owners our economic activity here goes beyond what our population says,” Gabhart said.

Retail sales, tracked by the Iowa Department of Revenue, reflect all sales in Sioux Center that have state sales tax on them, including on taxable services, plus an estimate of dollars spent on groceries.

“There is a ton of economic activity that doesn’t have sales tax attached, everything from auto sales and fuel, ag inputs like feed and seed and purchases made by nonprofit institutions and organizations,” Gabhart said. 

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