Apparel store sales performance slowed in September, with an increase of only 4.3% for the top 15 reporting stores, lower than August’s 7% increase. Although back-to-school was reportedly fairly strong for most stores, unseasonably warm weather hurt traffic and failed to spark sales of new fall apparel and accessories.
Sales at stores open at least a year, or same-store sales, rose a collective 3%, less than half August’s 6.3% increase.
As usual, results for the month varied by segment and channel:
Teen retailer Zumiez skated to the top of the pack for the tenth straight month with a better-than-expected 18.5% increase in total sales and a 5.6% same-store sales rise. However, Buckle, which used to be a Wall Street favorite, failed to make estimates for the fifth time in six months by posting a total sales increase of only .8% and a drop of .8% in comps. Drowning specialty retailer Wet Seal also missed estimates, with total and same-store sales plunging by 9.9% and 12.7%, respectively, making it the worst performer in the group for the sixth straight month.
Long-suffering Gap seems to have turned things around, with a third straight month of impressive sales gains thanks to dramatic improvements in the North American businesses. Same-store sales rose 6%, and total sales increased by 7.4%, to $1.45 billion.
Off-pricers Ross Stores and TJX were again among the biggest total sales gainers for the month, as they continued to wow customers with their brand-names-at-a-price concept. Ross saw total sales climb 10.2% to $800 million for the month, while TJX also beat expectations with a total sales gain of 13.6%. Both off-pricers saw comps advance by between 5 and 6%.
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Stage Stores was a pleasant surprise in September, with total sales up 13.6% and comps shattering expectations with a stunning 11% gain. Other department stores were less impressive. Macy’s missed expectations with total and comp sales increases of 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively. Kohl’s also disappointed with a 1.4% decrease in total sales and a 2.7% fall in comps. Steinmart enjoyed a 3.7% increase in total sales and a same-store sales rise of 2.4%.
Nordstrom, the only high-end department store to still report on a monthly basis, had a slightly disappointing 4.4% rise in same-store sales, though total sales were up by 7.4%.
Limited Brands, turned in a better-than-expected same-store sales gain of only 5%, though their lowest in a few months, and a drop in total sales of 5.5%, due to the continuing negative effect of the sale of its third-party sourcing business.
Target managed to exceed estimates with total sales up by 2.6% and comps ahead 2.1%. However, much of Target’s sales are in non-apparel. Taking the impact of Target out of the results, total sales rose 5.2% and comps jumped 4.6%. The discounter has announced it will cease to report monthly sales results after January 2013.
|
% Total vs LY |
$ |
Millions |
% Comps vs LY |
|||
| Company |
Sept |
FYTD |
Sept |
FYTD |
Sept |
FYTD |
| Zumiez |
18.5 |
20.9 |
63 |
328 |
5.6 |
12 |
| TJX |
13.6 |
10.3 |
2,500 |
16,100 |
6.0 |
8.0 |
| Stage Stores |
13.6 |
8.1 |
134 |
1,005 |
11.1 |
5.2 |
| Ross |
10.2 |
12.5 |
800 |
6,245 |
5.0 |
8.0 |
| Gap |
7.4 |
6.5 |
1,450 |
9,710 |
6.0 |
5.0 |
| Nordstrom |
7.1 |
11.4 |
1,010 |
7,330 |
4.4 |
7.5 |
| Steinmart |
3.7 |
1.9 |
103 |
762 |
2.4 |
1.3 |
| Macy’s |
2.7 |
3.7 |
2,358 |
16,430 |
2.5 |
3.6 |
| Target Corp |
2.6 |
3.1 |
6,075 |
44,607 |
2.1 |
3.8 |
| Buckle |
0.8 |
5.1 |
99 |
679 |
-0.8 |
3.1 |
| The Bon Ton |
0.7 |
-0.2 |
289 |
1,705 |
0.6 |
-0.1 |
| Cato |
0.6 |
0.2 |
71 |
638 |
-4.0 |
-3.0 |
| Kohl’s |
-1.4 |
0.8 |
1,608 |
11,545 |
-2.7 |
-0.9 |
| Limited |
-5.5 |
-3.3 |
774 |
5,992 |
5.0 |
7.0 |
| Wet Seal |
-9.9 |
-7.2 |
48 |
386 |
-12.7 |
-13.8 |
| Total |
4.3 |
4.6 |
17,381 |
123,461 |
3.0 |
4.4 |
| Total xTarget |
5.2 |
5.6 |
11,306 |
78,854 |
4.6 |
6.8 |