Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 3, 1993 TAG: 9312030179
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
But most analysts predicted a pickup in December and a decent, if unspectacular, holiday shopping season.
November sales "weren't as strong as we've been led to believe," said David Kelly, senior economist at Lehman Bros. Global Economics in Boston.
Johnson Redbook this week reported an 8.9 percent gain in November retailer sales on a year-over-year, seasonally adjusted basis. TeleCheck Services said retailer sales over the Thanksgiving weekend rose 5.4 percent from a year ago.
Although those surveys indicated strong sales, the reports from major retailers "don't quite jibe with that," Kelly said.
Among the larger retailers that released data Thursday, Wal-Mart Stores reported a 4 percent gain, Sears Merchandise Group posted a 7.9 percent increase and Kmart sales rose 1.7 percent.
JCPenney reported an increase of 12.3 percent, but its performance last November was particularly bad, said Ray Stone, a partner in Stone & McCarthy in Princeton, N.J.
Michael Niemira, an economist with Mitsubishi Bank in New York, called it a dismal performance.
Same-store sales, those that measure sales of stores that have been open at least a full year, rose about 3.3 percent on Niemira's 59-store aggregate index, a lackluster performance not dramatically different from the 3.7 percent average gain he estimated for the previous 10 months of the year.
"I suspect it will pick up," he said. He predicted combined November and December sales would show a gain of about 4 percent, on average, indicating "a decent season, but not as good as last year."
Sandra Shaber, senior economic adviser for the futures group of The WEFA Group in Bala Cynwyd, Pa., said the nature of holiday buying this year may continue to boost home and general merchandise stores at the expense of specialty apparel retailers.
"Mass merchandisers, discounters and JCPenney have done very well," while specialty apparel sellers, such as The Limited and Ann Taylor, have suffered, she noted.
Chains operating in Western Virginia reported:
Charming Shoppes Inc., which operates Fashion Bug stores, said sales rose 11 percent to $105.8 million from $95.2 million in the '92 period. Sales for comparable stores increased 3 percent.
The Dress Barn Inc.: Sales were $38.8 million, up 20 percent from $32.4 million last year. Comparable-store sales increased 5 percent.
Hechinger Co.: Sales, which include Home Quarters and Triangle Building Centers, were $173.5 million, up 24 percent overall and 9 percent in comparable stores. Hechinger stores' sales were up 5 percent.
Heilig-Meyers Co.: Sales up 42.6 percent to $85.9 million compared to $60.3 million in November 1992. Comparable-store sales increased 23.5 percent.
Lechters Inc.: Sales were $33.5 million, up 36 percent; 15 percent at comparable stores.
May Department Stores Co.: Sales, including Hecht's and Payless ShoeSource chains, were $1,024.2 million, a 5.4 percent increase. Same store sales were up 2.1 percent overall, but down 0.3 percent in the Payless division.
Woolworth Corp.: Comparable-store sales rose 1.5 percent, but total sales faded 8.2 percent to $775 million. On Oct. 13, the company said it would close more than 400 stores, and sales of those stores are excluded from the report.
by CNB