OfficeMax sent a warning yesterday that it expects performance to fall short of analysts'profit estimates for the third and fourth fiscal quarters. The Shaker Heights, Ohio-based office products retailer foresees a loss of approximately 10 cents a share in the third-quarter.
Another retailer swallowing bad-news medicine – again – is The Gap. For the five weeks ended September 30, the San Francisco-based retail organization reported an 8 percent drop in comp-store sales, with Old Navy dropping about 15 percent. The company warned that clearance markdowns in October could hinder profit expectations for the third fiscal quarter, as well.
On a more positive note, The Limited Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) reported a 10 percent comparable store sales increase for the month of September 30. And JCPenney (Plano, Texas) announced a sales decrease for the five weeks – but a slight one – of 0.9 percent. Department store sales decreased 4.8 percent, catalog sales decreased 2.9 percent and drugstore sales increased 3.8 percent.