U.S. Apparel Retailers Report Growth In November Comps

(RTTNews) - A number of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday reported higher sales at established stores for the month of November, as early holiday promotions and an improving economy helped offset the impact of disappointing Black Friday sales.

Sales for the month of November was expected to pick up towards the second-half of the month due to the Thanksgiving holiday, Black Friday deals and the Cyber Monday online shopping. Retailers normally rake up 40 percent of their annual income in the all-important holiday season that starts in November.

However, the National Retail Federation said on November 30 that overall shopper traffic over the four days from Thanksgiving Day through Sunday declined 5.2 percent from 2013. Total spending for the period was expected to be $50.9 billion, down 11 percent from last year's estimated $57.4 billion.

According to the NRF's Thanksgiving Weekend Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, early holiday promotions, the continued growth of online shopping, and an improving economy changed the way millions of people approached the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

Nevertheless, the NRF maintained its forecast for U.S. retail sales during the holiday season to increase 4.1 percent to a three-year high of nearly $617 billion from last year. This compares to the 3.1 percent rise in 2013 and the average growth of 2.9 percent over the past decade.

A report released from the Conference Board on November 25 showed that consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly deteriorated in the month of November.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 88.7 in November from a downwardly revised 94.1 in October. Economists had expected the index to climb to 96.5 from the 94.5 originally reported for the previous month.

Sales at established stores or comparable-store sales is a key retail industry performance metric to gauge activity at store locations that have been open for at least a year.

L Brands, Inc. (LB), the operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, said its comparable store sales for the month of November increased 8 percent. This compared to a decline of 5 percent in the year-ago period.

The company's net sales for the month grew 9 percent to $1.08 billion from $988.5 million last year.

Comps at Victoria's Secret for the month rose 4 percent, while comparable store sales at Bath & Body Works increased 11 percent.

Stein Mart, Inc. (SMRT) reported 4.8 percent growth in comps for the month of November. Total monthly sales rose 6.7 percent to $127.9 million from $119.9 million in the prior-year month.

Geographically, Texas and Florida recorded the strongest sales in November, while the Northeast, Midwest and West performed lower than the chain.

However, teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) reported that comparable store net sales for the month of November decreased 1 percent. But the company's net sales rose 2.7 percent to $104 million from last year's $101.2 million.

Meanwhile, value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that same-store sales for November grew 7 percent. Total sales for the month increased 10 percent to $73.8 million from $67.3 million in the year-ago period.

John Cato, chairman, president, and CEO of Cato, said, "November same-store sales were above expectations. However, we remain cautious for the rest of the holiday shopping season and fourth quarter."