October Same-Store Sales Lag

With consumers feeling the pinch from higher energy costs and a sagging housing market, the slump extended across all sectors, but hit specialty retailers hardest. Among the companies tracked by WWD, by sector, department stores slipped 1.3 percent on average and specialty apparel retailers dropped 2.1 percent. Mass merchants, however, posted a gain of 2.4 percent.

According to a poll by Thomson Financial, 18 retailers missed analysts’ expectations. Wal-Mart had a 0.4 percent comp gain, at the low end of expectations, and below the 1.1 percent same-store sales increase that analysts expected on a consensus basis. Macy’s was down 1.5 percent versus consensus expectations of a 0.6 percent decline. Nordstrom posted a rare sales decline, down 2.4 percent compared with a 1 percent boost expected by analysts.