Measuring the change in Valley shopping habits due to COVID-19

WESLACO, TEXAS - A shift in shopping habits brought about by the coronavirus pandemic has boosted sales tax revenues for smaller communities in the Rio Grande Valley.Matt Ruszczak, executive director of Rio South Texas Economic Council, analyzed these developments in an 2020 end-of-year report. His report was based on information released by the Texas Comptroller’s Office.“The COVID shift, looking at these numbers, is definitely real,” Ruszczak said. “The fact that people have changed their shopping habits reverberates in these numbers. The fact that they are spending their money in these secondary and tertiary markets, and not as much in the primary markets, gives value to these numbers.”The top ten Valley communities as measured by the percentage growth in sales tax revenues were: Bayview, Santa Rosa, Edcouch, Alton, Combes, Penitas, La Grulla, and Rancho Viejo.McAllen, the Valley’s No. 1 destination for shoppers, saw its market share from 1.3 percent to 24.6 percent. The city suffered in part because Mexican shoppers have been prevented from crossing in the United States since March. The travel ban was put in place to stop the spread of COVID-19.Ruszczak said he will be interested to see if shoppers return to destination cities once the pandemic has receded. “As we normalize, will we revert back to old habits or are we going to retain our closer to home shopping habits, or our online shopping habits?” Editor's Note: To read the full story go to www.riograndeguardian.com.Editor’s Note: This is the first of two podcasts focusing on Matt Ruszczak’s end of year report on sales tax revenue collections. Part Two will be posted in our next edition. Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.