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July retail sales mixed
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August 3, 2000: 10:56 a.m. ET
Sales up for Wal-Mart; clothing and department stores show mixed figures
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - U.S. retailers on Thursday reported mixed sales figures for July, offering mixed signals about the strength of the U.S. economy. Discount stores showed the strongest sales.
 Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, rose 6.5 percent at Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, and sales at Federated Department Stores Inc., owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, rose 1.6 percent. But sales at J.C. Penney Co. Inc. fell 3.6 percent, and Gap Inc. sales fell 1 percent.
The numbers sent more mixed signals about the economy. The month of June showed strong sales figures, while May had weak sales numbers. Falling sales could be evidence that rising short-term interest rates may be starting to crimp consumer spending.
Sales up for discounters
For the second month in a row, discount retailers performed well, with Wal-Mart (WMT: Research, Estimates) -- the No. 1 retailer worldwide -- leading the way again Sears, Roebuck (S: Research, Estimates) the No. 2 retailer worldwide behind Wal-Mart, saw its sales rise 1.8 percent on the strength of clothing sales. Sales at Target (TGT: Research, Estimates) the No. 4 U.S. retailer, rose 3.7 percent, as gains at Target discount stores overcame declines in other divisions.
The No. 3 U.S. retailer, Kmart (KM: Research, Estimates) saw sales rise 2.8 percent, reversing a dip in June. Discount electronics retailer RadioShack (RSH: Research, Estimates) said same-store sales rose 12 percent, following a 13 percent rise in June, and Costco Wholesale (COST: Research, Estimates) a leading warehouse-club retailer, rose 9 percent.
Clothing and department store results mixed
Results for clothing retailers, on the other hand, were mixed. Gap (GPS: Research, Estimates), hurt by falling sales at its Old Navy stores and flat sales at its Banana Republic stores, said its overall same-store sales fell 1 percent after a 2 percent dip in June and warned it won't meet earnings expectations for the second quarter. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF: Research, Estimates) reported that its sales fell 2 percent, after a 4-percent drop in June.
On the positive side, Limited (LTD: Research, Estimates) which operates 2,836 specialty retail stores under the Limited, Express, Lerner New York, Lane Bryant, Structure, and Henri Bendel store names, reported that its sales rose 5 percent, after a 6 percent gain in June. While Talbots (TLB: Research, Estimates) sales fell 0.9 percent, that loss was lighter than expected, and the women's-apparel company raised its earnings outlook.
Department stores showed mixed results. J.C. Penney (JCP: Research, Estimates) sales continued a June decline, while sales at Federated (FD: Research, Estimates) continued to climb. May Department Stores (MAY: Research, Estimates) -- which operates Lord & Taylor, Hecht's and Filene's stores -- fell 1.6 percent. Saks (SKS: Research, Estimates) sales were flat, while Nordstrom (JWN: Research, Estimates) sales plunged 9.7 percent. Dillard's (DDS: Research, Estimates) sales fell 5 percent. 
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