January Sales Surprisingly Strong
To the shock of many, U.S. retail sales climbed 3 percent in January over the same period last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. This news was a welcome surprise because January traditionally is the month when retailers focus on clearing store inventory and consumers are spent from the holidays.
January was particularly good for apparel retailers. The segment’s sales performance climbed 6.4 percent over last year. It was the strongest showing for apparel retailers since March 2007, said Michael Niemira, chief economist at the New York–based ICSC.
One reason for the strong performances during a traditionally weak sales month was easy comparisons. Last month’s business was compared with sales for January 2009, when U.S. chain stores saw a 1.6 percent decline.
However, January’s strong sales reports were also the result of cash registers ringing at malls across the United States, said Jeffrey Van Sinderen, a retail analyst for Los Angeles–based financial-services company B. Riley & Associates. “I was surprised at the level of traffic in the malls,” he said. “I thought consumers would go into hibernation after they spent so much during Christmas.”
Instead consumers crowded malls and spent their gift cards and paychecks at stores offering clearance sales at high discounts, he said.
The month’s best sales were reported by off-price retailers Ross Stores Inc. and The TJX Companies Inc., parent company of Marshalls and T.J. Maxx. These retailers’ sales climbed 8 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Department stores were particularly hard hit during 2009. However, many reported good sales during January. Macy’s sales climbed 3.4 percent over January 2009. Luxury department stores reported increased sales, too. Nordstrom sales were up 14 percent, Neiman Marcus grew 6.8 percent and Saks’ sales increased 7 percent.
But January was not a great month for some specialty chain stores. Typically high-flying specialty store chain The Buckle reported a 1.2 percent decline, and Hot Topic reported a 13.1 percent drop.
Retailers might be doing well in February, too. The ICSC forecast a 2 percent rise for U.S. chain-store sales.—Andrew Asch
