Good Retail Sales Kick Off 2012
January sales were good.
The International Council of Shopping Centers said January sales rose 4.8 percent compared with the same time last year, according to the New York–based trade group’s index of retailers.
It was the strongest January sales report since 2006, when retail sales increased 4.8 percent. ICSC’s chief economist, Michael Niemira, also noted that spending was especially robust at high-end boutiques and luxury department stores, where sales increased 6.2 percent.
Luxury store Saks Inc. was one of the strongest performers in January, reporting a 10.5 percent increase in its same-store sales. Macy’s Inc. recorded a solid 2.4 percent increase in its same-store sales. But it was a strong enough performance to where Macy’s raised its earnings guidance for its fourth quarter. Guidance for earnings per diluted share increased to $1.63 to $1.65, compared with former earnings of $1.55 to $1.60. Plano, Texas–based retailer J.C. Penney Company Inc., which announced it would stop reporting monthly sales, will no longer appear on the California Apparel News monthly retail sales index.
Discounters and off-pricers reported good performances for January. Target Corp. reported a same-store-sales increase of 4.3 percent, which was in the high end of its forecast for the month. Ross Stores Inc. reported a same-store-sales increase of 5 percent, which, Ross Chief Executive Michael Balmuth stated, was well ahead of the company’s forecast for the month.
The specialty-store sector was mixed in January. Zumiez Inc. reported a robust 10.8 percent increase in its same-store sales for the first month of the year. The Wet Seal Inc. reported a decline of 13 percent. Susan P. McGalla, Wet Seal’s chief executive, said, “The fourth quarter ended with January sales that did not meet our expectations.” But she also stressed that merchandise for the Foothill Ranch, Calif.–based company was improving.
For February, the ICSC forecast that retail sales will increase from 3 percent to 3.5 percent.—A.A.
