California Apparel News

U.S. chain-store sales increased 5.5 percent in September, according the International Council ofShopping Centers. Luxury sales grew 10.4 percent during September, which was marked by bad economic headlines across the world.

Solid retail sales in a time of economic uncertainty is a sign of American consumers’ resilience, according to Michael McNamara, vice president of research and analysis for MasterCard Advisors’Spending Pulse.

“The U.S. consumer continues to spend across multiple sectors outside of the sectors tied to the housing market,” McNamara said. “This resilience in retail sales growth has been impressive in spite of disruptive weather, high gasoline prices and generally negative economic news.”

MasterCard’s Spending Pulse also found there was some good Back-to-School shopping in September. The Back-to-School season runs from July through September, and this year showed an increase of 3.6 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.

Janney Capital’s Adrienne Tennant said September sales results performed above expectations. The big winners were retailers with desirable brands and products that were different from their competition.

Macy’s Inc. Chairman Terry J. Lundgren thought American consumer resilience would last through the holiday season, despite a litany of poor macroeconomic news.

“Our customers are responding to fashion and uniqueness in the assortment at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. We are feeling quite confident that we will continue to gain market share as we head toward the holiday selling season,” Lundgren said in a statement.

Good retail sales were spread across the board in September. Department stores Saks and Nordstrom reported same-store sales of 9.3 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, last month. Mass retailer TargetCorp. reported September samestore sales that were slightly ahead of the forecast, said Gregg Steinhafel, Target’s chairman.

Specialty retailer The Wet Seal Inc. reported a decline of 0.3 percent in September. But managing a company, even with a resilient consumer base, is tough, and it is best to follow a conservative strategy to survive, said Susan McGalla, Wet Seal’s chief executive.

“As the retail environment remains challenging and customer behavior difficult to predict, we continue to manage inventories conservatively and focus on better promotional planning to balance our priorities of sales growth and gross margin improvement,” she said in a company statement.

September marked a great month for Zumiez Inc. Its same-store sales increased 10.1 percent during September. The Everett, Wash.– based surf and skate retailer reported $52.9 million in total net sales for September, compared with $44.7 million made in the same time in the previous year.

The sales were better than planned, and the company increased its guidance on Oct. 5. It forecast its fiscal 2011 third-quarter sales to be $150 million to $152 million. Diluted shares were projected at 40 to 41 cents, an increase from the previously issued guidance of 37 to 39 cents per diluted share, according to a company statement. —Andrew Asch