RETAIL
Retail Sales Results Mixed in March
Gap Inc. snapped out of a slump to report its first positive comp-store sales since the year began.
The giant San Francisco–based specialty retailer announced that its same-store sales for March were up 2 percent compared with a 6 percent decrease in the same time last year. Gap reported sales declines for the first two months of the year.
In March, same-store sales for Gap’s Old Navy Global division skyrocketed 14 percent. However, same-store sales for its Gap Global division declined 7 percent, and its Banana Republic Global declined 3 percent.
Gap’s results were part of the good news for March, which some retail analysts called a month of mixed results for retailers. Ken Perkins of the Boston area–based Retail Metrics said some retailers had missed expectations for the month. Gas prices increased, which made business a bit tougher, Perkins said. A relatively late Easter, which fell on April 5, did not do much to raise sales for the month.
However, Perkins noted that both L Brands and SteinMart reported good business during March. L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, reported a comp-store increase of 9 percent. SteinMart, an off-pricer, posted a same-store increase of 11 percent.
But March was nothing special, according to Adrienne Yih, a high-profile analyst for financial-services firm Janney Capital Markets. “Despite the spring-break shift (benefiting teen/young adult), we noted cool March temps (particularly in the Northeast) and closures on Easter Sunday, which hampered sales and led to an “okay” March. However, inventory control still resulted in controlled sector-wide promos with our proprietary checks suggesting promos remained roughly ‘flattish.’”
