Wal-Mart sees modest January growth
Same store sales towards lower end of forecasts
Wal-mart expects its US same store sales growth for January to be towards the lower end of its forecasts, at 2.5 per cent.
The world’s biggest retailer, which has been forecasting same store growth of 2 per cent to 4 per cent, said sales had been hit by unseasonable weather in the Northeast and the Midwest at the start of the final week of the month.
In the week to January 28, general merchandise sales growth across the US was stronger than food, with increased customer traffic rather than higher spend driving growth.
Wal-Mart repeated that January sales comparisons will be affected by the later Superbowl weekend this year, as well as the closure of the Sam’s Club warehouse store chain on January 1, which fell on a Saturday this year.
