April Sales Decline
An early Easter holiday put a damper on April sales. U.S. chain-store sales increased a wan 0.6 percent, according to an index of American chain stores charted by the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Because Easter fell on April 8 this year, many consumers splurged in March, which led to robust sales in that month. Economists and retail leaders said April’s modest results did not point to a downward trend. Counting March and April results together, American retail sales remain steady, said ICSC’s chief economist, Michael Niemira.
April’s best-performing retailers were off-pricers Ross Stores Inc. and The TJX Companies Inc., which reported same-store-sales increases of 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Nordstrom Inc. led the majors, with the Seattle-based company posting a 7.1 percent same-store-sales increase for its April sales. Zumiez Inc., another Washington-based retailer, continued its run of excellent same-store-sales reports when it reported a 10.1 percent increase for April.
Kohl’s Corp. and The Wet Seal Inc. reported challenges in April. Department store Kohl’s posted a same-store-sales decline of 3.5 percent, and specialty chain Wet Seal posted a decline of
9.6 percent in April.
Kevin Mansell, Kohl’s chairman, chief executive and president, blamed the early Easter for the decline. In March, it reported an increase of 3.6 percent. Susan McGalla, Wet Seal’s chief executive, said the juniors retailer’s sales results landed within the company’s forecast. For both its Wet Seal and Arden B. divisions, it will focus on improving its selection of tops.
Hot Topic Inc., headquartered in City of Industry, Calif., reported results for its first fiscal quarter of 2012. The long-suffering retailer posted a same-store-sales increase of 7.5 percent compared with its first quarter of 2011 “Our Hot Topic comps for Q1 were led by the improvement in fashion apparel, which validates our strategic direction,” said Lisa Harper, Hot Topic’s chief executive and chairman of its board of directors.—A.A.
