March Sales Better Than Expected
March’s retail sales declined 2.1 percent, but the numbers don’t tell the whole story, according to New York–based retail-center trade group International Council of Shopping Centers.
March 2009’s sales suffered because of a calendar shift. There were fewer shopping days in March 2009 because there was one less Saturday this year than in March 2008. Also, many consumers postponed shopping until April because Easter fell on April 12 this year, compared with last year, when it fell on March 23.
More than a few retailers reported better-than-expected results in March. City of Industry, Calif.–based Hot Topic Inc. continued its comeback story. It reported a same-store sales increase of 7.1 percent.
Cult movie hit “Twilight” continues to fuel the pop-culture retailer’s good sales. “’Twilight’ DVD sales contributed one-half of the comp increase at Hot Topic,” wrote Liz Pierce, an analyst for Newport Beach, Calif.–based Roth Capital Partners in an April 9 research note.
San Francisco–based Gap Inc. was forecast to report a decline of 10.4 percent, but it exceeded expectations when it reported only a decline of 8 percent.
The long-suffering department-store giant Macy’s reported some good news in March. Its same-store sales for its e-commerce operations for its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores increased 17 percent.
Off-pricers and discount retailers continued their recent trend of reporting good same-store sales. Pleasanton, Calif.–based Ross Stores Inc. reported a same-store increase of 3 percent in May. Framingham, Mass.–based TJX reported a same-store sales increase of 2 percent.
Department stores continued to struggle during March. JCPenney reported a decline of 7.2 percent. Nordstrom reported a decline of 13.5 percent. Saks stumbled, with a decline of 24.2 percent.
For April 2009, ICSC forecast decent sales. Retail sales will be flat or increase 1 percent compared with the same time in the previous year. —Andrew Asch
