They say it wasn't that good, but on the other hand, they had some pretty high expectations too. I wonder what leads to the high expectations? It's not as if corporate America, swamped these days with cash, has been in a hurry to increase wages - the surest way to boost consumer spending. Still, even if sales were up and beat inflation, the bean-counters seemed glum.
Come on folks, be happy! People had fun and they did spend money! There was lots to celebrate!:
An already disappointing holiday shopping season turned out to be even worse than expected for many of the nation's retailers, who said Thursday they had tepid sales gains for December.
... Ken Perkins, president of RetailMetrics LLC, a research company in Swampscott, Mass., said retailers were forced to mark down heavily to bring in sales.
"Clearly, this was a promotional Christmas," he said. "Consumers clearly waited until the last minute."
... Based on 51 stores that reported, Perkins said 23 retailers beat sales expectation, 25 missed estimates and three stores matched projections.
...After a solid start to the holiday season, many stores struggled with disappointing business in December, and a shopping surge in the days just before and after Christmas wasn't strong enough to make up for lost sales. Merchants tried to stick to their previously planned discounts, but at the seaon's end they resorted to bigger-than-anticipated cuts to pull shoppers in.
Mild weather across much of the country meant consumers were in no hurry to buy cold weather wear such as coats and gloves, depressing sales at many apparel stores. Declining gasoline prices and a steady job market should have helped merchants, but Perkins believes the recent drop in home equity loans - a big source of buying power over the past few years - curtailed spending among middle-income shoppers.
Sales results were also hurt by two big shifts in the way consumers are shopping: the increasing popularity of gift cards and robust online buying, which is not included in same-store results. Gift card sales are only posted when they are redeemed rather than bought, helping to extend the holiday season into January.
Wal-Mart, which warned earlier in the season that its same-store sales gain would be no better than 1 percent, posted a 1.6 percent increase for December. Retail industry analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected 1 percent gain.
...Wal-Mart has struggled with a mix of problems, including the fact that its lower-income customers were hurt by soaring gas prices. But the company's lackluster sales have persisted even as the cost of gas retreated - partly because its attempt to broaden its appeal to higher-income shoppers was poorly executed, particularly in apparel and home furnishings.
...Rival discounter Target Corp. had a 4.1 percent gain in same-store sales, below the 4.5 percent estimate.
Costco Wholesale Corp. posted a 9 percent gain in same-store sales, beating Wall Street's 5.7 percent estimate.
... Federated Department Stores Inc., which acquired May Department Stores Co. last year, had a 4.4 percent gain in same-store sales, below the 5.5 percent estimate from Wall Street. The same-store results include only the Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores that existed before September, when the company transformed most of the former May Co. stores to Macy's units.
...Nordstrom Inc. reported a robust 9 percent same-store sales gain, exceeding the 4.3 percent forecast. Luxury operator Saks Inc. had an 11 percent same-store sales, gain, nearly twice the 5.3 percent estimate.
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