Strong Showing for Retail Stores in September

A number of department stores posted strong gains for the month of September, outperforming other retails segments.

For example, Neiman Marcus reported that its same store sales rose 4.7 percent during the month against the same period last year. Jewelry, women’s shoes, handbags and men’s clothing saw big sales gains. Stores in California, Texas, the south-east and New York were the top performing for the period.

Saks reported a 6.5 per cent increase in same store sales, highlighting strength in a similarly broad range of categories. Nordstrom said its same store sales rose 7.5 percent and that transactions at its main stores had increased for the 13th month in a row.

Mid-market retailers also did well for the month. Macy’s same store sale rose 4.8 percent, JC Penney was up 5.1 percent and Kohl’s increased 3 percent in September.

Teen and youth retailers also delivered a generally strong month, with same store sales at Abercrombie & Fitch up 13 percent.

Luxury Brands Report Strong Sales in March

Luxury retail sales continue to be the bright spot in an otherwise fragile U.S. retail sector that is balancing on a number of internal and external factors.

In March, luxury department stores reported sales increases for stores open more than a year. Among them are Saks Fifth Avenue (up 11.1 percent) Neiman Marcus (up 8.8 percent) and Nordstrom (up 5.1 percent). Victoria’s Secret, the high-end lingerie store owned by Limited Brands reported a 19 percent increase in same store sales.

Meanwhile, Limited-owned GAP, a mid-market brand, reported a same store sales drop of 9 percent. Other mid-market and low-end stores were disappointing, as well, including Target (down 5.5 percent), Dilliards (down 1 percent) and Kohl’s (down 6.5 percent).

The International Council of Shopping Centers said comparable sales at chain stores increased 2 percent in March, year-over-year. The retail organization said a late Easter impacted year-over-year sales data.

“Sales for the month of March were on the high side of our expectations despite the negative impact of the Easter-date shift and less than favorable weather conditions in parts of the country,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research for ICSC. “This gain, in the face of somewhat adverse factors, was encouraging and reflected a solid underlying trend in consumer demand.”