U.S. Clothing Retailers Report Sales Drops In April

(RTTNews) - A sampling of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday reported weak sales at established stores for the month of April, due to the late arrival of Spring weather and continued West Coast port delays. April normally has the peak spring apparel selling weeks.

As expected, the shift of Easter from late April last year to early April this year negatively impacted sales unfavorably. An early Easter holiday dragged down results by at least 5 percentage points.

The results would mean that retailers are breaking a string of 67 straight months of same-store-sales growth dating back from August 2009.

Looking ahead, May sales are expected to snap back and show some signs of life with better weather, pent-up demand, spring-related merchandise and improved economic conditions.

May sales will also get a boost from Mother's Day, which is seen as the second biggest gifting holiday in the year after Christmas. Shoppers will later stock up on summer styles when retailers offer their annual Memorial Day discounts.

A report released from the Conference Board on April 28 showed that its consumer confidence index in the U.S. unexpectedly pulled back sharply in the month of April, after reporting a significant rebound in U.S. consumer confidence in the previous month.

The U.S. consumer confidence index tumbled to 95.2 in April from an upwardly revised 101.4 in March. The steep drop came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the consumer confidence index to climb to a reading of 102.5.

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 April comparable store sales decreased 1 percent, reflecting the negative impact of the earlier Easter this year by about 5 percentage points. Net sales were $724.6 million, up 1 percent from $717.6 million last year.

Stein Mart, Inc. (SMRT) reported a 1.5 percent decline in comparable store sales for the month of April. Meanwhile, total monthly sales edged up to $109.1 million from $108.1 million in the prior-year month.

"We are very pleased with the response our customers are having to our spring assortment," Stein Mart CEO Jay Stein said.

Teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) announced that comparable store net sales for the month of April decreased 3.8 percent. Net sales also dipped 1.7 percent to $74.3 million from last year's $75.6 million.

Buckle has begun including online sales in its reported comparable store sales from the February 2015 monthly sales release and for all future periods.

Value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that April same-store sales decreased 14 percent, and total sales also declined 10 percent from last year to $84.1 million.

"The shift of Easter from late mid-April last year to early April this year unfavorably impacted April sales, while March sales were favorably impacted," the company stated.

Another specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) reported Wednesday that its comparable store sales for April decreased 4.0 percent, on top of last year's 8.2 percent growth. Total net sales also increased 2.4 percent from last year to $51.8 million.