RETAIL SALES
September Sales Forecast to Be Weak
Wall Street analysts forecast weak sales for September, and teen retailer Zumiez Inc.’s performance did nothing to change the soft forecast.
The typically solid retailer reported a 0.6 percent decline in same-store sales in September, according to a company statement released on Oct. 9. Its net sales declined 6.0 percent to $58.9 million, compared with $62.7 million in net sales reported in the same time in the previous year.
Ken Perkins, president of Boston-area market-research firm Retail Metrics Inc., forecast in an Oct. 9 research note that September sales were hurt by a number of trends.
“September proved to be a difficult month as Back-to-School sales were lackluster at best,” he wrote. “The fashion cycle was uninspiring; weather was warmer than average, hurting buy-now, wear-now apparel purchases; income gains remained subdued; consumer confidence waned, in part attributable to government-shutdown worries; and consumers continued to focus on bigger ticket purchases such as autos, housing and student loans.”
Retail analyst Adrienne Tennant also forecast weak September sales. “We have seen generally ‘deeper’ promotions throughout the month, after a below-plan BTS season. We expect October promotional levels to maintain the depth and aggressiveness seen in September,” she wrote in an Oct. 9 research note. Tennant works for Janney Capital Markets.
