January's Chill Doesn't Deter Shoppers

Retail sales in January were surprisingly robust, despite chilling cold and heavy snowfall across much of America, which threatened to put retail sales into a freeze, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. “Retailers have experienced a battery of severe storms throughout the month that will tend to accentuate the weather-induced sales weakness, given January is traditionally a low-volume month for sales,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist. But despite projecting sales to increase 1.2 percent to 2 percent in January, the results—a 4.8 percent increase—were far better than expected.

Luxury retailers Saks Inc. and Nordstrom posted strong increases in same-store sales, reporting 4.4 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. Macy’s reported a comp-store increase of 2.6 percent.

Discounter Target saw same-store sales tick up 1.7 percent, while off-pricer TJX Cos., operator of TJ Maxx and Marshalls stores, continued to fare well, with a 2 percent increase in same-store sales.

Foothill Ranch, Calif.–based juniors retailer Wet Seal reported a surprisingly robust gain of 6.2 percent in same-store sales. The retail chain had been expecting a 4 percent decrease.

But the good news did not extend to teen retailer Hot Topic Inc., which reported a 3.3 percent decline in same-store sales for the month. On Jan. 31, the City of Industry, Calif.–based retailer announced that Chris Daniel, president of the company’s Torrid division, resigned. Her departure date from the company will be April 29.

Zumiez Inc., another mall-based teen retailer, reported a stellar same-store-sales increase of 15.3 percent in January. The Everett, Wash.–based retailer announced sales of $26.7 million in January.—Andrew Asch