MARIETTA - People are expected to spend more money than ever this year on ties, power tools, golf equipment and the like for Father's Day, according to an annual survey for the National Retail Foundation.
But the holiday still has a ways to go to catch up with Mother's Day.
Vincent resident Cassandra Pierce, 29, said she expects her father and husband spend more on Mother's Day gifts than she does for Father's Day.
"Jewelry's usually more expensive," she said with a laugh.
The survey found people plan to spend an average of $117.14 on Father's Day items this year, compared to $106.49 last year. This year's average for Mother's Day was about $152. That gap has been similar the last few years, with each holiday's spending dipping in 2009 and trending back upward in 2011.
Pierce said she usually spends about the same amount on Father's Day gifts each year. Last year, she got her husband power tools. For a previous Father's Day, his gift was a ride in a racecar through the Richard Petty Driving School.
"It usually depends on what they want," she said.
Devola resident Nat Miller, 29, said his family spends more on gifts for birthdays and Christmas than Mother's or Father's Day. His wife's father, who lives out of town, usually gets something like an Amazon gift card, while Miller's dad, who is local, is taken out to dinner and given a small gift.
Miller will also be on the receiving end of some type of gift, from his wife and three young children.
"I don't know what they're going to do this year, probably something coffee-related," he said.
Local stores that sell items traditionally associated with Father's Day - apparel, tools, sporting goods - are seeing or expect to see an increase in customers as Sunday's holiday approaches.
At the Workingman's Store on Putnam Street in Marietta, summer items like shorts and short-sleeved shirts are popular choices, owner Dave Schramm said.
"We also do lots of gift certificates, 'cause a lot of times, stuff we sell is hard to get as gifts," he said, referring to boots and similar items.
Although they do carry products for women, the Workingman's Store sees more business related to Father's Day than Mother's Day.
One might think that's the case at Apex Feed and Supply on Greene Street in Marietta, but owner Russ Cogswell said they do brisk business around both days.
"We have a lot of women shoppers, and we sell a lot of hanging baskets for Mother's Day," he said.
Featured items on sale at the business this week include screwdriver and wrench sets, Cogswell said. Power tools and grills are also traditionally popular gifts.
Leslie Philip, owner of the Hallmark Gold Crown store in Marietta's Lafayette Shopping Center, said Mother's Day is a busier time there, even though the business offers numerous Father's Day cards and other items such as mugs and acrylic drinkwear.
"It's still sizable," she said.
