Perhaps not surprisingly, the City of Aspen’s economy was driven by marijuana, booze and construction sales in September.
Those categories were the drivers of a 15 percent increase in overall retail sales compared to the same month in 2014, according to a city report. Sales of sports equipment and clothing also saw a jump. One category did see a decline in September: miscellaneous sales. That includes sectors like health/beauty and banks/finance.
Lodging tax collections were up 11 percent compared to the same month one year prior. Year-to-date, the lodging sector’s up 9 percent. September generally accounts for 7 percent of the entire year’s sales.