Shoppers From Mexico Boost Holiday Profits for Texas Border Retailers

EL PASO - Malls are crowded with holiday shoppers from Mexico like Cesar Robles, who drove three hours from Chihuahua City with his family hoping to find sale prices."I'm looking for clothes for the kids," said Robles, 42, who was in Dillard's with his 9- and 12-year-old sons and their grandmother. For the Robles and other families from Mexico it's a holiday tradition to make a road trip to U.S. border cities like El Paso for a shopping spree that runs through Three Kings Day, January 6. And the benefits extend beyond malls. Families stay in hotels, eat at restaurants and attend sporting and other entertainment events. For years, tens of thousands of Mexican shoppers have been a presence in Texas but they slipped under the radar because tracking their effect is difficult. Along the border local and state governments and retailers don't know exactly how many visitors cross the border shop or how often -- especially high--end Mexican shoppers with deep pockets who pay with cash. Until now.This year, economic development councils in the Rio Grande Valley and local media companies in a public-private partnership paid for a cross-border study by Nielsen, a consumer research company that studies consumer buying and media habits. The survey for the first time measured consumer behavior, including buying and media habits on both sides of the border.  Continue reading...