Whatcom County set another record for retail sales. Here are three reasons why.

ust-released numbers show Whatcom County retailers were busy last spring, ringing up a record number of sales.

Taxable retail sales in the second quarter totaled more than $1.14 billion, the highest quarterly total ever in Whatcom County, according to data released by the Washington State Department of Revenue. The second quarter total was a 6.2 percent increase compared to the same period in 2017.

What was behind the strong retail growth? Here are three factors:

Last spring high gas prices prompted Canadians to come into Whatcom County, particularly the border towns of Blaine and Sumas. According to the data, retail trade, which focuses on items sold at businesses, was up 19.1 percent in Blaine and 53.2 percent in Sumas year-over-year for the second quarter.

During the second quarter, nearly 3.6 million people crossed southbound across the five Whatcom County border crossings, according to data from the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University. That’s a 14.7 percent increase compared to the second quarter of 2017.

The difference between gas prices in British Columbia and Whatcom County was wide last spring. In late March prices were hovering around $1.50 a liter (around $5.67 a gallon in Canadian dollars at the time), while gas in Whatcom County was averaging around $3.23 a gallon, according to AAA Washington.