Monthly U.S. retail sales figures point to respectable holiday season
A burst of shopping just before and after Christmas helped many of the US’s big retailers meet their December sales goals, giving the overall industry a respectable but not spectacular holiday season.
As merchants began reporting their December results Thursday morning, the complete picture was not immediately known, but the early winners included Costco Wholesale Corp., Nordstrom Inc. and Limited Brands Inc.
“It looks good so far. The results are better than expected,” said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics LLC, a research firm.
Perkins noted that 77 per cent of the merchants that reported so far exceeded expectations.
After an uneven start to the holiday season, many retailers struggled in December as shoppers appeared to prolong their buying even later than in the past.
Teen apparel retailers were among the big winners as cut-price winter fashions flew off the shelves at chains such as Aeropostale Inc. while trendy Abercrombie & Fitch Co reported a huge sales jump despite holding back on the markdowns. Wal-Mart, the world’s biggest retailer, said its fourth-quarter profit would likely reach only the low end of its forecast after a disappointing December. Its shares dropped 0.8 percent in New York Stock Exchange trading.
Wal-Mart posted just a 2.2 percent increase in December sales at U.S. stores open at least a year a key measure known as same-store sales, but forecast 3 percent to 5 percent growth for January.
