Monthly sales volumes from individual department, chain, discount, and apparel stores are usually reported on the first Thursday of each month. Chain store sales correspond with roughly 10 percent of retail sales. Chain store sales are an indicator of retail sales and consumer spending trends. Why Investors Care
Highlights
The holiday shopping season appears to have been mixed as expected, with low-end retailers, whose customers are most exposed to a soft jobs market and high gas prices, doing poor to fair and high-end retailers doing better.
Wal-Mart posted a weak but still better-than-feared 2.6 percent rise in year-on-year same-store sales. The rate is well above the chain's paltry 0.7 percent rise in November but is still no better, if not below, the rate of inflation. Wal-Mart, which discounted heavily during December, sees flat sales continuing into January.
Wal-Mart rival Target did much better once again, posting a 5.1 percent gain vs. a 3.2 percent rise in November.
Other general merchandise chains were mixed with May Department Stores down 3.3 percent, but Costco up 8 percent and TJ Max up 6 percent. Electronics retailer Best Buy posted a 2.5 percent rise.
Department stores did little better. Sales at JC Penney were weak, falling 1.2 percent in December. The chain, a leading seller of apparel, did better in November, making for a combined 3.1 percent rise in the two months. But for January, the company sees further declines. Sears once again did poorly, with sales falling 3.0 percent.
But the story is largely different for high-end retailers whose customers are less exposed to problems in the economy. Sales at Nordstrom's rose 9.3 percent while sales at Nieman Marcus jumped 10.8 percent. Federated, owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, posted a moderate 2.3 percent gain, while high-end women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor saw sales fall 7.4 percent.
Gift cards, which can be redeemed at later dates, and internet sales, which are not included in same-store sales, may have skimmed from the results, which nevertheless point to only a modest gain at best for non-auto, non-gasoline retail sales next Thursday.
The shopping season, one of the economy's greatest annual events, may not have been a bust but it wasn't a great success either. Bonds may find comfort in the results while the dollar and stocks, especially share prices of many retailers, are likely to feel pressure.
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