Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991 TAG: 9103080088
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The monthly results reported Thursday by major stores also provided evidence that shoppers weren't loosening their purse strings. Americans remained shell-shocked by rising unemployment and declines in personal incomes, economists said. Both factors kept consumer confidence depressed for much of the period.
Neither industry analysts nor the store owners themselves expressed much surprise at the tally for February, which for most major retailers marks the start of a new fiscal year.
"Expectations for the month were quite low," said Joseph Ronning, an analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.
Business had been sluggish before Christmas and sagged in January as consumers, preoccupied with the economy and the war, curbed spending on non-essentials such as clothes, appliances and furniture.
Most companies reported declines in same-store sales when compared with February 1990 levels.
Experts think sales from stores open at least a year - known as same-store or comparable-store sales - provide a more accurate assessment of a retailer's performance than overall sales. The latter include results from newly opened outlets, which tend to have extraordinarily strong sales that can distort a retailer's overall report.
Last month's negative results crossed most categories of retailers, including department store chains, mass merchandisers and apparel companies.
Executives from both Sears, Roebuck and Co. and J.C. Penney Co. noted that sales were particularly soft for big-ticket items such as furniture and appliances.
Discounters provided the lone bright spot. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. posted an 11 percent gain compared with year-ago results in comparable stores. Kmart Corp.'s same-store sales advanced 6.3 percent. Discounters frequently fare better than other retailers in tough economic times as consumers opt for lower-priced goods.
Leading the apparel category, Gap Inc., which has registered strong sales gains in recent months while many other retailers have floundered, advanced a mere 1 percent. Limited Inc., the nation's largest specialty apparel retailer, said same-store sales declined 3 percent.
Economists pay attention to consumer spending because it accounts for two-thirds of the nation's economic activity and is a primary factor in the recession. Many economists expect the downturn in retail sales to continue well into the spring.
Sears said February sales at stores open at least a year fell 4.3 percent, while the company's overall sales declined 3.6 percent.
J.C. Penney recorded a 7 percent decline in same-store sales, wit overall sales down 5.3 percent.
Dayton Hudson Corp., parent of the B Dalton Bookseller chain, said same-store sales fell 0.5 percent as overall sales advanced 10.3 percent.
Among other companies with major outlets in Western Virginia:
The May Department Stores Co., St. Louis-based parent of Thalhimers, reported sales of $627.6 million for the four-week period ended March 2, an increase of 6.3 percent from $590.7 million in the similar fiscal period last year.
Circuit City Stores Inc. of Richmond said February sales reached $151 million, 5 percent ahead of February 1990's $143.3 million but a 9 percent decrease in comparable-store sales.
by CNB