It seems like more people have been buying!
Written by James Matthews
According to Bloomberg..July sales at U.S. retailers may have risen 3.1 percent, the biggest advance in four months, as consumers bought shorts and bathing suits at clearance prices and began back-to-school shopping.
The International Council of Shopping Centers had predicted July sales at stores open at least a year would gain 3 percent. Same-store sales increased 3.9 percent in July 2006.
Department stores and apparel chains such as Macy’s Inc. and Gap Inc. cleared out lightweight summer merchandise at discounts. Shoppers started to buy school clothing at retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters Inc., spurred on by sales-tax waivers in states such as North Carolina and Tennessee.
“Teen retailers were some of the biggest beneficiaries in July from back-to-school and girls in groups with spending money,” said Jennifer Black, president of Jennifer Black & Associates, a Lake Oswego, Oregon-based research consulting firm.
Sales for the seven days through Aug. 4 climbed 3.1 percent from a year ago, and slipped 0.3 percent from the previous week, the ICSC and UBS Securities LLC, an investment bank, said today in a statement. The survey collects data on same-store sales, a key measurement of a retailer’s performance because it excludes locations that have recently opened or closed.
Another U.S. retail sales survey showed a 3.2 percent gain last week from a year earlier. Monthly sales increased 2.9 percent, according to the Johnson Redbook Index. The index measures same-store sales at general-merchandise retailers representing about 9,000 locations.
Back-to-School
Texas and Florida students are going back to school later this year and the tax-free shopping periods were pushed back into August. This shift reduced July comparable-store sales at some retailers that cater to school-age customers, Black said.
“August will be a rebound for the teen retailers,” she said.
U.S. retail sales from February through June climbed 2.3 percent, slower than the 3.9 percent gain for the same period in 2006, according to ICSC chief economist Michael Niemira. Some people are cutting back on buying furniture and home décor amid a U.S. housing slump, he said yesterday.
June sales of existing homes in the U.S. declined 3.8 percent to an annual rate of 5.75 million, the slowest pace since November 2002, the National Association of Realtors said July 25. Sales of new homes dropped 6.6 percent in June, the most since January, the Commerce Department said July 26.
“This is going to be a tough year for apparel,” Eric Beder, an analyst at Brean Murray Carret & Co. in New York, said yesterday.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 Retailing Index fell 0.1 percent to 478.91 at 12 p.m. New York time. The index has dropped 4.2 percent this year, compared with a 3.7 percent gain for the broader S&P 500.
The ICSC’s July results are preliminary. The group will issue a final figure for the sales it tracks at 60 chains on Aug. 9, when many U.S. retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., issue their monthly sales report.
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This post was written by James Matthews. If you have any questions or comments you may contact him at james@jewelerslounge.com
