Discounters on Hot Streak in October
Retail’s black cloud lifted in October, as sales surged 7.1 percent, erasing a 2.2 percent drop in September, the Commerce Department reported Nov. 14.
Discount chains continued their sales hot streak, outperforming their department store and specialty retailer brethren as consumers tried to stretch their dollars with bargains.
Reigning retail champion Wal-Mart Stores Inc. registered a same-store sales increase of 6.7 percent, better than the 4 percent to 6 percent gain it had expected.
Kohl’s Corp. vaulted 13.5 percent in comparable-store sales as shoppers opted for inexpensive basics.
Both Kohl’s and Wal-Mart’s numbers come on top of the respectable growth experienced by the companies last year. Meanwhile, Kmart Corp. fell 4.4 percent. The No. 2 discount chain behind Wal-Mart was up against a year-ago liquidation of more than $52 million of discontinued inventory that had boosted sales by 2.0 percent.
Success stories, though, were by no means seen across the retail board.
Both moderately priced and luxury department stores, already hurting from an economic slowdown before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, suffered from further same-store sales erosion.
Dillard’s Inc. posted a 6.0 percent decline and Saks Inc. fell 6.4 percent. Same-store sales fell 4.4 percent at Sears, Roebuck & Co. and 8.7 percent at Federated Dept. Stores, parent of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.Specialty stores too found pay dirt elusive. Gap Inc.’s same-store sales plunged 17.0 percent, marking the fourth consecutive month of double-digit losses for the company. Ann Taylor Stores Corp. reported an 11.8 percent drop in same-store sales and Limited Inc.’s comparable-store sales were off by 6.0 percent. —Nola Sarkisian-Miller
