Apparel stores were among the strongest performers last week as retail sales gained 3.4 percent from the comparable seven days in 2014.
In their weekly tabulation of chain store results, The Retail Economist LLC and Goldman Sachs said sales in the seven days ended Jan. 17 declined 1.3 percent from the prior week. In the comparable week of 2014, year-on-year sales were up 0.9 percent and sequential sales down 1.9 percent.
Department stores, apparel stores and wholesale clubs were singled out for “very strong business gains” with most other retail channels, with the exception of electronics, posting gains for the seven days.
Most retailers are now in the next-to-last week of their fiscal years and their focus is on inventory clearance and gift-card redemption.
Michael Niemira, chief economist of The Retail Economist LLC, said, “By mid-January, gift-card redemption starts to trail off, which is likely part of the reason for the sequential decline in sales for the week.”
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The improved year-on-year result came against what Niemira described as “an easy comparison” with the year-ago week.
Temperatures were 0.4 percent below their long-term average last week, according to Weather Trends International, but a more noticeable 4.4 degrees cooler than during the same week last year.
Niemira expects same-store sales among reporting retailers to increase between 4 and 4.5 percent, up from the 3.3 percent increase registered in January of last year.