RETAIL SALES
October Sales Forecast From Ugly to Good
As forecasts for October sales roll in, predictions range from lousy to better-than-predicted.
Kevin Perkins of market research firm Retail Metrics forecast October would disappoint.
“October proved to be another challenging month for retailers, showing no signs of bounce back from what proved to be a lackluster Back-to-School shopping season,” he wrote in a Nov. 6 research note.
Adrienne Tennant of Janney Capital Markets forecast October’s business would not be that bad. “We expect October comp reports to be in-line to slightly better than expectations across the board, as we witnessed a sequential improvement in mall traffic from September as weather turned to seasonally fall-like temperatures. “
Zumiez Inc. typically reports its monthly sales results before other retailers. On Nov. 6, it reported same-store sales for October increased 1.2 percent compared with last year, when comparable-store sales increased 0.6 percent. Zumiez’s net sales increased 10.4 percent to $46.3 million compared with $41.9 million last year.—Andrew Asch
Apparel News will report more details in this story as retailers post October sales on Nov. 7.
