
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 8, 1991                   TAG: 9102080121
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

JANUARY SALES DOWN AT MANY STORE CHAINS

War in the Persian Gulf and a weaker economy at home kept consumers out of the stores again in January, giving many of the nation's biggest retailers a dismal end to an already disappointing fiscal year.

Several retailers said Thursday their January sales fell in comparison with year-earlier results: Sears, Roebuck and Co.; J.C. Penney Co. Inc.; May Department Stores Co.; Limited Inc. and Carter Hawley Hale Stores Inc.

Discounters Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Kmart Corp. fared somewhat better, an indication that budget-conscious consumers were searching for lower prices.

"The weakness was evident across the board . . . and was geographically broad-based," said Jeffrey Feiner, a retail industry analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co.

The beginning of the Gulf War, while long anticipated, helped put a further dent in already lackluster business.

Store traffic "started off sluggishly, it died the first week of the war, and then it picked up to a sluggish trend," said Jeffrey Edelman, an analyst with the Barclays de Zoete Wedd Inc. investment company.

Penney, for example, reported last month that business fell slightly during the first few days of the war. But Chairman William Howell said Thursday that consumers also were held back by concerns about the economy.

January, the final month for the retailing fiscal year, is considered the least significant one on the calendar. Even in the best of years, consumers tread lightly after spending heavily on Christmas, while stores clear winter merchandise to make way for spring lines.

Nonetheless, the sales figures represented a further blow to the retail industry, which is suffering from a disappointing Christmas and a generally poor 1990.

With 1991 just over a month old, there has been a wave of bankruptcy court filings by retailers, including Hills Department Stores Inc. and Best Products Co. Bond-rating companies downgraded their opinions of Carter Hawley Hale, which was rumored to be on the verge of Chapter 11 filing.

Sears, struggling to reclaim its eroding market share, also saw some of its bond ratings fall, making it more expensive for the company to borrow money.

by CNB