|
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Retailers racked up solid sales last month, proving once again that American consumers are holding tough despite soaring oil and gasoline prices.
"I am very perplexed by these results," said Ken Perkins, retail analyst and president of research firm Retail Metrics."I had expected 50 percent of the 64 retailers that we track would have missed their sales forecasts. But two-third of that universe have beat so far."
Perkins had estimated an overall 3.7 percent same-store sales growth in August. "That number may go up to 3.9 percent growth now."
But industry experts said that the recent spike in gasoline prices could start to bite into spending, for consumers across the board. That pattern was clearly reflected in Wal-Mart's soft sales last month.
Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart (Research), the world's biggest retailer, logged same-store sales -- or sales at its stores open at least a year -- that rose 3.3 percent for the four-week period ended Aug. 26, as food outpaced higher-margin general merchandise sales.
The company had forecast same-store sales growth of three to five percent. For September, the company expects same-store sales to rise between two and four percent.
But Wal-Mart cautioned that its current forecast was subject to the company's final determination of the impact of Hurricane Katrina and of higher oil prices.
In a pre-recorded call Thursday, Wal-Mart said it had closed 126 of its stores in the affected Gulf Coast regions but had since reopened 80 of those.
Wal-Mart's rival Target Corp. (Research) fared much better, posting a same-store gain of 6.3 percent. The No. 2 discounter after Wal-Mart also beat consensus analysts' estimate of a 5.4 percent gain.
Some specialty apparel chains and high-end sellers also had strong showings. Among them, teen clothier Wet Seal (Research)'s same-store sales surged 48.3 percent; sales at Abercrombie & Fitch (Research) jumped 24 percent, and sales at Bebe (Research) rose a strong 16.9 percent.
Women's apparel retailer Chico's posted a robust 14 percent sales gain in August.
Luxury merchant Nordstrom (Research)'s sales climbed a healthy eight percent. Department store chain J.C. Penney (Research)'s sales rose 2.8, percent while Kohl's (Research) sales rose 4.6 percent.
Even the struggling home furniture sector saw an unexpected bounce in sales. Bombay Company (Research)'s receipts jumped 11 percent last month as discounts helped spur purchases of big-ticket, higher-margin items.
Bombay's peer Pier 1 Imports (Research) didn't fare as well. The company posed a 12.4 percent drop in same-store sales last month.
There were some setbacks. Limited Brands (Research), parent of Express, Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, logged a three percent sales decline.
Gap Inc. (Research), the No. 1 clothing chain, posted a nine percent decline in its same-store sales.
Said Perkins, "Part of the story is that retailers did have very easy comparisons from a year ago. But I'm still very impressed with the strong sales trends."
At the same time, Perkins isn't willing to bet that momentum can hold.
"I suspect the gas squeeze and the hit from Katrina to retailers with a lot of exposure in the South will have an impact," he sad. "Right now, Wal-Mart and dollar store operators are struggling. But the gas price burden could creep up into the mid-tier retailers as well if mid-income consumers start to cut back a little."
"Also, remember that higher transportation costs due to gas prices will squeeze retailers' margins, too," he added. "We'll have to wait and see how long retailers are willing to absorb the added costs or if they'll pass them on to consumers in the months ahead."
------------------
Gas: Can consumers bear more pain? Click here to read more.
Consumer spending rises in July. Click here to read more.
|
