TALLINN — Estonia’s retail market is stabilizing and crawling back toward growth after a steady 30 percent drop in sales since early 2008.

While April was down 12 percent from that month last year, it was up 2 percent from March although the seasonally-adjusted data shows no increase or loss. Meanwhile Estonian retailers are reporting that sales are up.

The car sales company Amserv Auto, the [private_supervisor]Prisma supermarket chain, and the Sandman Grupp electronic store chain announced their sales were up by 10-15 percent in last few months. The previously hard-hit Baltika Group posted an 8 percent monthly sales increase in May, the highest upswing in two years. Meanwhile the Viru Shopping Center said its long-running sales decrease has finally ebbed.

Retail sales have significantly recovered in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased by a fifth during the year, at the same time in the previous months the decline amounted to nearly 30%. The decrease in other specialized stores, such as stores selling computers and their accessories, photography supplies, books, sports equipment, games and toys, slowed down to some extent if compared to the previous months. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased 18% compared to April 2009.

The bottoming out hardly shows a return to the pre-crisis boom for the real estate market, though.

Annika Paabut, a Swedbank macro-analyst said that consumer confidence is returning as the economic decline ebbs after last year’s plunge downward from the “Baltic Tiger” boom. Yet, Paabut said that it’s too soon to tell if Estonian households are fully out of their crisis mode.

“We believe that household consumption will be less than last year, and that some modest growth will be seen next year,” Paabut told Baltic Reports.

Tõnu Palm, head economist at Nordea Bank’s Estonia subsidiary told Baltic Reports that the improvement in sales is still rather a seasonal change, though, given that the first quarter is typically the worst for retail.

— Baltic Reports reporter Kai Joost contributed to this article. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]Prisma supermarket chain, and the Sandman Grupp electronic store chain announced their sales were up by 10-15 percent in last few months. The previously hard-hit Baltika Group posted an 8 percent monthly sales increase in May, the highest upswing in two years. Meanwhile the Viru Shopping Center said its long-running sales decrease has finally ebbed.

Retail sales have significantly recovered in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased by a fifth during the year, at the same time in the previous months the decline amounted to nearly 30%. The decrease in other specialized stores, such as stores selling computers and their accessories, photography supplies, books, sports equipment, games and toys, slowed down to some extent if compared to the previous months. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased 18% compared to April 2009.

The bottoming out hardly shows a return to the pre-crisis boom for the real estate market, though.

Annika Paabut, a Swedbank macro-analyst said that consumer confidence is returning as the economic decline ebbs after last year’s plunge downward from the “Baltic Tiger” boom. Yet, Paabut said that it’s too soon to tell if Estonian households are fully out of their crisis mode.

“We believe that household consumption will be less than last year, and that some modest growth will be seen next year,” Paabut told Baltic Reports.

Tõnu Palm, head economist at Nordea Bank’s Estonia subsidiary told Baltic Reports that the improvement in sales is still rather a seasonal change, though, given that the first quarter is typically the worst for retail.

— Baltic Reports reporter Kai Joost contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]Prisma supermarket chain, and the Sandman Grupp electronic store chain announced their sales were up by 10-15 percent in last few months. The previously hard-hit Baltika Group posted an 8 percent monthly sales increase in May, the highest upswing in two years. Meanwhile the Viru Shopping Center said its long-running sales decrease has finally ebbed.

Retail sales have significantly recovered in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased by a fifth during the year, at the same time in the previous months the decline amounted to nearly 30%. The decrease in other specialized stores, such as stores selling computers and their accessories, photography supplies, books, sports equipment, games and toys, slowed down to some extent if compared to the previous months. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased 18% compared to April 2009.

The bottoming out hardly shows a return to the pre-crisis boom for the real estate market, though.

Annika Paabut, a Swedbank macro-analyst said that consumer confidence is returning as the economic decline ebbs after last year’s plunge downward from the “Baltic Tiger” boom. Yet, Paabut said that it’s too soon to tell if Estonian households are fully out of their crisis mode.

“We believe that household consumption will be less than last year, and that some modest growth will be seen next year,” Paabut told Baltic Reports.

Tõnu Palm, head economist at Nordea Bank’s Estonia subsidiary told Baltic Reports that the improvement in sales is still rather a seasonal change, though, given that the first quarter is typically the worst for retail.

— Baltic Reports reporter Kai Joost contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]Prisma supermarket chain, and the Sandman Grupp electronic store chain announced their sales were up by 10-15 percent in last few months. The previously hard-hit Baltika Group posted an 8 percent monthly sales increase in May, the highest upswing in two years. Meanwhile the Viru Shopping Center said its long-running sales decrease has finally ebbed.

Retail sales have significantly recovered in stores selling household goods and appliances, hardware and building materials. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased by a fifth during the year, at the same time in the previous months the decline amounted to nearly 30%. The decrease in other specialized stores, such as stores selling computers and their accessories, photography supplies, books, sports equipment, games and toys, slowed down to some extent if compared to the previous months. In these stores the retail sales of goods decreased 18% compared to April 2009.

The bottoming out hardly shows a return to the pre-crisis boom for the real estate market, though.

Annika Paabut, a Swedbank macro-analyst said that consumer confidence is returning as the economic decline ebbs after last year’s plunge downward from the “Baltic Tiger” boom. Yet, Paabut said that it’s too soon to tell if Estonian households are fully out of their crisis mode.

“We believe that household consumption will be less than last year, and that some modest growth will be seen next year,” Paabut told Baltic Reports.

Tõnu Palm, head economist at Nordea Bank’s Estonia subsidiary told Baltic Reports that the improvement in sales is still rather a seasonal change, though, given that the first quarter is typically the worst for retail.

— Baltic Reports reporter Kai Joost contributed to this article. [/private_subscription 1 year]

— This is a paid article. To subscribe or extend your subscription, click here.