September Song

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) and Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati), the largest and 16th-largest retail organizations in the U.S., reported that September sales figures would fall at the low end of their forecast ranges.

Wal-Mart predicted that same-store sales would be near the bottom of the 4 – 6 percent growth range it previously forecast.

Federated said figures might fall slightly below the 3 – 5 percent growth increase it had expected.

These announcements came after both retailers enjoyed strong sales for the week ending Sept. 22, 2002. Wal-Mart said its sales were helped by increased demand for home furnishings, electronics, household chemicals, underwear, pharmacy and food products. And same-store sales at Federated for the week greatly exceeded last year's figures, which were adversely affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11.