Staff Photo by Dan Henry / The Chattanooga Times Free Press- 6/17/16. Connie Brandt, Kitchen & Bath Designer with The Home Depot, speaks about tool and technology based Father's Day offerings that the East Brainerd home improvement store offers while working June 17, 2016.Kate Tribendas knows what she's getting her husband, Alex, a still-new dad who pushed the couple's one- and two-year-old girls down the sidewalk in a tandem, two-seater stroller Friday afternoon.
With two days to go until the holiday for fathers across the country, Kate - with a little laugh - admitted she hadn't actually ordered the gift yet.
"I'm gonna do it," she said. "It's online, and it delivers next-day."
This is shaping up to be a good year for dads everywhere, according to the National Retail Federation. The retail watch group predicts in its annual Father's Day shopping survey Americans will spend a record-high $14.3 billion on presents for pop.
Shoppers are expected to spend an average of $125 on the holiday, a jump from the $115 spent a year ago.
More than 20 percent of shoppers will buy some kind of experience, like tickets to a ballgame.
And 38 percent of shoppers are expected to shop at brick-and- mortar retailers, while 32 percent - like Kate Tribendas - will shop online.
National retailers offer sales and promotions through either channel for shoppers through this weekend.
Connie Brandt, kitchen and bath designer at The Home Depot off Gunbarrel Road, showed off Friday a variety of gifts the store offers for a variety of dads out there.
"This is Home Depot," she said, "so it's like every man's toy store."
Among the top gift ideas picked out for dads this year, Brandt showed off a tool set, a rotary tool kit and a 165-foot laser measure and Bluetooth.
Also, a work bench, an ultra-strength flashlight and a cordless leaf blower. Not to mention a camera doorknob and a state-of-the-art security system.
It just depends on what kind of dad you're shopping for, said Brandt- there's the DIY dad, "the kind of person you're going to be buying the tools for," she said.
And then for the techie dads, "all these hi-fi sets of gifts," she said.
"Then for the dad you don't have a clue what to get for, you get him a gift card," said Brandt.
But while spending on the holiday this year is up over 2015, the trend holds that Americans still spend more on moms. This year, Americans spent $21.4 billion on Mother's Day, which is $7 billion more than they'll spend on Father's Day - an expected $14.3 billion.
That's roughly equivalent to a difference of more than 233 million gifts (like flowers) at a cost of $30 per gift.
According to National Retail Federation surveys, the sheer volume of Mother's Day shoppers is around 10 percent higher than Father's Day shoppers. Around 62 percent of Americans buy gifts for mothers and step-mothers, while only 53 percent buy for fathers and step-fathers.
Just over 28 percent of Father's Day gifts are purchased for husbands. That's about 5 percent better than the number of Mother's Day gifts purchased for wives.
And more shoppers buy for dads than moms online, according to the National Retail Federation.
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6480.