MEET CAILEY

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY COUNCIL DISTRICT 7 CAILEY LOCKLAIR Party: Republican Age: 36 Residence: Edgewater, Anne Arundel County Occupation: President of the Maryland Retailers Association Education: A.A., B.A., M.S., Certificate of Security Assessment and Management, Certified Association Executive (2024) 

DELMARVA – Whether you’re a consumer buying groceries at the store or you’re a customer at a restaurant, you may have noticed the jump in food prices. The U.S. Department of Agriculture released an update saying all consumer food prices are predicted to increase between 4.5% and 5.5% in 2022. “These are some of the most significant food prices increases that we’ve seen in decades,” Cailey Locklair, the President of Maryland Retailers Association and The Maryland Food Industry Council, said. Locklair said right now there’s not just one answer as to why this is happening. She said we can see demand increasing drastically for consumers at home with a 21% increase year over year. Additionally, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia will have an impact. “Especially with the global conflict going on, that combination of consumer demand up, the cost to do business up all over the world this is not going away for awhile; so consumers are really going to have to hunker down and deal with this,” Locklair said. Now, when it comes to eating out, the USDA said those food prices are forecasted to go up between 5.5 and 6.5% this year. This is something Sufang Lin, owner of Manna Asian Cuisine and Kaiju Sushi & Ramen Bar, isn’t thrilled to hear about. “So, I just increased 0.50 cents to our bubba tea and I feel so guilty,” Lin said. “The past two years ago our crab meat was $35, now it’s $70, and the tuna per pound was $11 per pound, now it’s $22 per pound.” Lin said while she doesn’t know right now if she’ll have to raise prices even more, she just hopes her customers understand this is something she has to do to keep the business running. “It’s struggling right now, like me and my husband always talk about the priced right now, but it’s a small business,” Lin said. “We don’t want to open up a restaurant without any benefits.”

DELMARVA– A chain of events are leaving some grocery store shelves empty. “You’re feeling all of these areas impacted that we’d never had problems in due to sickness, because of shortages, I mean these are very interesting times,” Cailey Locklair, President of Maryland Retailers Association, said. Whether you’re looking for eggs or meat, you may have a hard time getting your hands on these items. A lot comes down to COVID-19 and supply chain issues. “When the pandemic first hit, everybody was going to the grocery stores and we had a lot of out of stocks at that point some of the manufacturers began shutting down due to the pandemic,” Gerry Hocker, the Vice President of Hocker’s Supermarket, said. Three key pieces make up the food supply chain, production, processing, and retail. Each one has been slammed by the pandemic. “I think what we are seeing across the country now manufacturers the companies that would make three or for sizes of something they are actually starting to downsize to two sizes,” Hocker said. “We also on top of that have our trucker shortage and that actually existed even before the pandemic, there was a shortage for CDL drivers,” Locklair said. And, on top of the shortages there’s also the increased costs at every step of the supply chain. “Now, we are seeing the main issue now as a result of the gas prices we are seeing deliveries, delivery costs are higher,” Hocker said. At Hocker’s Supermarket, in Delaware, Hocker said they haven’t been hit as hard as their competition, largely because they’re an independent store. “Many of your chain stores have to put on their shelves what comes from their warehouse whereas we are fortunate to look elsewhere if need be,” Hocker said.  And, when it comes to empty supermarket shelves, there’s actually something you can do to help. We’re told to help keep these shelves stocked, customers shouldn’t panic buy. “Your neighbors and their ability to access food and those essential items is impacted when people start hoarding and we all know the toilet paper debacle and we do not need to relive that,” Locklair said.

Maryland's economy gained 14,900 jobs in October 2021

@BryanRenbaum Republicans long argued that the enhanced unemployment insurance benefits that were made available to claimants under the CARES Act discouraged people from returning work, while Democrats often countered that the extra benefits had little or no effect on the job market and were necessary due to the economic devastation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Labor Day marked the statutory deadline set by Congress for the end of enhanced UI benefits and the extra $300 a week that many claimants had been receiving on top of regular UI benefits. Many states chose to end the extra benefits prior to the statutory deadline fearing prolonged labor shortages. Gov. Larry Hogan tried to do that in Maryland but was blocked by a state court. Maryland’s unemployment rate is 6%. The national unemployment rate is 5.2%.

Shelter-in-place guidelines mandated by federal and state government during COVID-19 accelerated changes in consumer shopping habits that were already in motion pre-pandemic. As the country continues its emergence from mass shutdowns, retailers and developers are being forced to adjust to new shopping patterns, delivery methods and the physical presence and make-up of stores within malls and neighborhood centers. Cailey Locklair, President of the Maryland Retailers Association and Scott Wimbrow, President and Principal, MacKenzie Commercial Real Estate Services offer perspectives on what the future holds for retail. Cailey Locklair (CL): Consumers increasingly gravitated to one-stop shopping venues during the pandemic to minimize trips and achieve greater comfort and, because habits are difficult to alter, we expect a continuation of this trend. There remain plentiful opportunities for niche retailers offering hard-to-find products including rare import items, collectibles and products that require customization. Concepts that have successfully created an omni-channel presence offering different shopping and pick-up options will thrive, and we see physical stores filling a “showroom” requirement with consumers subsequently returning to their homes to complete an on-line purchase. Scott Wimbrow (SW): Service-oriented strip centers with concepts that include nail and hair salons and phone services have completely rebounded. The general public started to emerge from their homes this spring and pent-up demand for in-person shopping and spending time outdoors, combined with the continued lack of travel, has resulted in larger-than-normal crowds at all shopping venues with Main Street venues in particular. The lack of available daycare and responsibilities at home have caused labor shortages and the lack of availability of certain big ticket items including appliances and cars has dampened a stronger recovery. CL: The increased emphasis on the home, which has morphed into a do-it-all place where people work, entertain, play and relax has translated into improvements and investments. This has benefitted omni channel and hardware stores, residential construction and the remodeling industries. Consumers buying habits shift CL: During the pandemic, consumers were focused on the speed and safety of their trips to the grocery store and placed an emphasis on purchasing items with elongated shelf lives. This “food-gloom” mentality has dramatically subsided and families are shifting to supermarkets offering higher-quality food, and prepared meals with less concern on pricing. With no restaurants to visit, the general public either cooked more frequently or ordered on-line to receive specially-prepared meals delivered to their homes. Many found that they enjoyed the process and the quality. One big loser is the convenience store industry which lost the ability to sell prepared foods for an extended time and habits have now shifted. SW: Specialty grocery stores that did not offer a complete shopping experience suffered slightly last year, as consumers resisted making a special trip to purchase paper goods and other household staples. Supermarkets across the board stepped up the availability of home delivery, with the downside being less choices of product selection and higher pricing. The tide has now shifted. Consumers are comfortable with elongated shopping experiences and we are also seeing multiple workers scurrying around the store to fill on-line orders. Filling vacant retail spaces CL: Opportunities are in abundance for concepts looking to secure high-visibility shopping center locations. Developers are getting creative by transforming available spaces into pop-up restaurants and shops, flex/office space, experienced-based entertainment, community centers and storage facilities. Big box retail spaces are being sub-divided to accommodate different uses. For example, Annapolis Mall is creating a local bazaar and food court.  SW: For every one restaurant that goes out of business, there are two or three behind it and immediately ready to takes its place. Second generation restaurant space remains in high demand and there is no shortage of new concepts. Medical uses are a viable backfill candidate for large or big-box stores especially in the suburban market given the plentiful free parking and signage opportunities, combined with access to a population less interested in traveling to medical centers in the city. Retail centers in urban areas will continue to struggle as workers have emptied out of large employment centers and companies are having difficulty luring employees downtown. Retail always finds a way to survive and remake itself and we are confident of the emergence of a new iteration of shopping concepts.

Maryland’s economy shed 6,400 jobs in June and the state’s unemployment rate increased from 6.1% to 6.2%, according to preliminary data released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning. By contrast, Maryland added 11,500 jobs in May. The national unemployment rate is at 5.9%. In a statement accompanying the report, state Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson attributed the dismal jobs numbers to a “serious labor shortage,” throughout Maryland. Robinson noted that there are “over 250,000 jobs available” on the state’s jobs portal and that that is the most of any month in five years. But is Robinson correct? Are there simply not enough workers available to accommodate employers? And is that why Maryland’s unemployment rate is slightly higher than that of the national average? “With the employee hiring crisis that has set in in every industry and at all pay levels, we need to get people back to work,” Maryland Retailers Association President Cailey Locklair told MarylandReporter.com. “The lack of employees is a combination of search for work requirements, additional UI funds and many other issues like employees completely switching careers.” Click here to read the full article from Maryland Reporter!

The Maryland Retailers Association president is running in the District 7 Anne Arundel County Council race in 2022, hoping to represent Crofton and south county. Cailey Locklair was the first to file for the seat, which is currently occupied by Jessica Haire, R-Edgewater, who has announced she’s running for county executive ...