Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050079
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From staff and wire reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
July traditionally is one of the slowest retail months of the year, making it difficult to draw conclusions based on the month's results, said William Mel Hughes, an analyst at Stein, Roe & Farnham here.
Although July sales growth was below June's, overall sales growth was ``decent'' and followed many of the patterns that have developed since early spring, Hughes said.
Women's apparel, for instance, continued to weigh on overall sales growth, while sales of ``hard'' goods, such as consumer electronics and home improvement items, remained strong.
But ``it's difficult to get any reading on consumer sales trends from July,'' Hughes said.
The August back-to-school sales period probably will be a better indicator, he said.
``The numbers overall are pretty weak,'' said David Kelly, senior economist at Lehman Bros. Global Economics in Boston.
His firm's nine-store sales index registered a gain of 4.4 percent in year-over-year same-store sales for July, compared with a 5.9 percent rise in June, Kelly said.
The data suggest consumers are ``taking a breather'' after increasing their rate of spending late last year and through the first three months of 1994, a factor that contributed to stronger U.S. economic growth during that period, he said.
``It's not that they're cutting back; they're just not increasing [spending] at the same pace they were,'' Kelly said. ``So we need another driver for economic expansion.''
Retail chains operating stores in Western Virginia reported:
Bombay Co. said July sales were $21.1 million, up 21 percent from July 1993. Comparable-store sales, a measure of stores operating a full year to remove the impact of abnormally high sales from store openings, rose by 4 percent.
Charming Shoppes reported July sales of $89.2 million, up 3 percent, and comparable-store sales down 5 percent.
Circuit City reported July sales of $414.3 million, up 34 percent with comparable sales up 14 percent.
Dayton Hudson, operator of B. Dalton Bookseller stores, reported July sales of $1.41 billion, up 13.8 percent with comparable sales up 6.8 percent.
Family Dollar reported July 1994 sales of $106.3 million, down 9.5 percent with comparable sales down 16.5 percent.
Hechinger Co. reported July 1994 sales of $195.1 million, up 18 percent with comparable sales up 1 percent.
Hills Department Stores reported July sales of $127.1 million, up 10.1 percent with comparable sales up 9.2 percent.
J.C. Penney Co. reported July sales of $898 million, up 6.1 percent with comparable sales up 6 percent.
Kmart Corp. reported July sales of $2.63 billion, up 4.7 percent with comparable sales down 0.1 percent.
Lechters reported July sales of $27.1 million, up 14 percent, with comparable sales up 3.3 percent.
Limited reported July sales of $455.2 million, up 1 percent, with comparable sales down 8 percent.
Lowe's reported July sales of $486 million, up 29 percent, with comparable sales up 9 percent.
May Department Stores, operator of Hecht's and Payless ShoeSource stores, reported July sales of $728.4 million, up 6.3 percent with comparable sales up 5 percent.
Merry-Go-Round, an apparel retailer, reported July sales of $53.5 million, down 18 percent with comparable sales down 14 percent.
Sears, Roebuck and Co. reported July sales of $1.91 billion, up 6.1 percent with comparable sales up 5.2 percent.
TJX Cos., operator of TJMaxx stores, reported July sales of $242 million, steady from July 1993 with comparable sales down 1 percent.
Wal-Mart reported July sales of $6.63 billion, up 22 percent, with comparable sales up 5.8 percent.
Woolworth reported July sales of $600 million, up 8.2 percent with comparable sales up 1.8 percent.
Staff writer Megan Schnabel contributed to this story.
by CNB