Department stores show strongest showing in July
A few days late on this one, but July’s same store sales numbers came out on Thursday and the brightest spot was how well department stores did. Federated up 3.3%, JC Penney up 4.9%, Kohl’s up 5.9%, Nordstrom up 5.3%, and Saks up 2.4%. All of these beat or were in line with analysts predictions.
Mall retailers posted mixed results: Abercrombie & Fitch posted an increase of 3% (with A&F namesake stores up 1%, abercrombie kids up 5%, Hollister up 5%, and Ruehl up 36%), American Eagle Outfitters up 7%, Ann Taylor up 5.1%, Gap Inc. down 4% (with Gap nakesake stores down 13%, Old Navy & Banana Republic reporting flat sales, and Gap International stores down 6%), Hot Topic was down 7.2%, Limited Brands up 7.0%, and PacSun was down 10.6%.
Target was up 3.1% while Wal-Mart was up 2.4%. Costco was up 7.0% while BJ’s Wholesale was up 1.9%.
Interesting results as it seems shoppers are going to the department stores for their Back to School shopping. Department stores were up 4.1% this month compared with a 0.5% increase in July of 2005. Will this trend continue through August?
As I mentioned the other day, I’m not suprised to see flat sales at Abercrombie & Fitch namesake stores with stronger comp numbers coming from American Eagle Outfitters. But like I said, the real interesting numbers will be out next week with the Q2 results from these retailers.
Still think Gap can start a turnaround. Like I’ve said, I already like the new store experiences and merchandise from Old Navy and Gap. I think it will take longer to execute the turnaround and will be a prolonged process, lasting several seasons, before we really see any true signs of a turnaround. Q2 numbers are going to be ugly judging from the amount of markdowns I’ve seen at some of the Gaps and Old Navys that I’ve been in.
More coverage from Minyanville’s Retail Roundup, Investor’s Business Daily, and Reuters.
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original vision. It’s easy to become content with success, riding a great idea into the ground. Remaining nimble and innovative is much harder, but is key to the long-term success of any company subject to the constantly-changing winds of fashion (see the Gap’s much-chronicled problems