ARA

Industry Links

The following links lead to a variety of Web sites concerning the retail climate, from the local community to the state Capitol in Montgomery and our issues in Washington. 


The Alabama Retail Association hopes this list of resources are helpful to members and non-members. We update these links frequently and welcome ideas for other resources to add. Please come back here often to visit the new links we've added. 

National Retail Associations 

National Retail Federation
Retail Industry Leaders Association
Food Marketing Institute
National Association of Chain Drug Stores
National Grocers Association
International Council of Shopping Centers
U.S Chamber of Commerce
National Pharmacy Association
National Council of Chain Restaurants
National Association of Convenience Stores
Food Industry Association Executives
National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops
National Association for Shoplifting Prevention 

Retail Associations in Other States 

Council of State Retail Associations

Retail Sales 

Monthly Retail Sales Comparison (Compiled by PR Newswire)
Monthly and Year-to-Date Retail Sales by Retailer Compared to Previous Year (Compiled by Business Wire)
Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services
(U.S. Census Bureau)
Quarterly Financial Report on Retail Trade (U.S. Census Bureau)
Monthly Alabama Sales Tax Collections
(Alabama Revenue Department)
American Customer Satisfaction Index 

Services 

We Card (responsible tobacco retailing materials)
LearnSomething (online training for retailers)
Security & Privacy - Made Simpler (Better Business Bureau guidelines for customer security and privacy)
Software Advice (Free comparison of point-of-sale retail software)

State Agencies and Links 

Governor
Alabama Department of Industrial Relations
Alabama Department of Insurance
Alabama Department of Labor
Alabama Department of Public Health
Alabama Medicaid Agency
Alabama Department of Revenue  

Alabama Legislature 

Alabama Legislature 

Federal Agencies and Links 

Business.usa.gov
Internal Revenue Service
Federal Trade Commission
U.S. Department of Commerce 
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Labor
National Conference of State Legislatures
President
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
U.S. Department of Transportation
U.S. Department of Treasury 

Congress 

U.S. House of Representatives
U.S. Senate
Legislative information from the Library of Congress 

Small Business 

U.S. Small Business Administration
IRS Small Business Tax Center
Business Owner's Toolkit
SBA Direct
SBA Women's Business Center
U.S. Senate Small Business Committee
U.S. House Small Business Committee
National Federation of Independent Business 

Publications 

Business Week Online

Entrepreneur.com
Inc.com 

Alabama Chambers of Commerce 

Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama 

Business Resources 

Center for Business and Economic Research