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
Chain-stores reported mostly moderate year-on-year sales gains in March, a disappointment given an easy comparison. Easter, the first big draw of the spring shopping season, fell in April last year.
Wal-Mart posted a solid 4.3% rise in same-store sales in the month. But the company put a damper on the news by issuing a profit warning. Wal-Mart rival Target was once again a special standout, posting a strong 8.2% gain. Apparel chain Abercrombie & Fitch continues to post sizzling gains, up 21% in March.
But results as a whole were mixed: Nordstrom +5.5%, Dollar General +4.2%, Federated +3.4%, Nieman Marcus +3.4%, Family Dollar +2.4%, Saks +2.3%, JC Penney +0.1%, Stein Mart -0.9%, AnnTaylor -1.7%, Gottschalks -2.4%, Deb Shops -3%, Bon-Ton -3.6%, Dillard's -8%, May -10.8%, Pier 1 -18.2%.
High gas prices and, perhaps more importantly, a soft jobs market are keeping a lid on consumer spending. Retail sales for March will be next Wednesday's big data, which will be helped by strong motor vehicle sales (data reported last week).
| 2005 Release Schedule | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
powered by
![[Econoday]](../../../../../../../../../images/logo.gif){kind=logo}