February Retail Sales Strong

Most of the nation’s retailers posted higher sales for February, despite tough winter conditions in parts of the country and rising gasoline prices. One major barometer of that sales uptick is the Thompson Reuters same-store sales index, which tracks same-store sales for 25 retailers. For February, the index was up 4.2 percent from a year earlier.

Among the retailers reporting sales increases for February over the same period a year earlier were The Limited (up 11.8 percent), Saks Inc. (14.2 percent), Costco (11 percent), J.C. Penney (2.7 percent), Kohl’s (7.1 percent), Macy’s Inc. (5.9 percent) and Target (2.4 percent). Among those reporting sales declines for the period were Gap Inc. (down 2 percent) and Dillard’s (1 percent).

Concerns over how rising gas prices will impact retail sales is reflected in the latest RBC Consumer Outlook Index , which found that nearly one in three U.S. consumers have already significantly reduced discretionary spending because of the increase of higher gas costs.

“There has been quite a lot of debate about the impact of rising gasoline prices on consumption in general,” said RBC Capital Markets chief U.S. economist Tom Porcelli. “Specifically, the conversation focuses on what particular price level of gasoline would lead to a shift away from discretionary spending. The RBC survey finds that this level has already been breached for 32 percent of consumers, and is within range for another 18 percent. Somewhat encouragingly, however, is that 40 percent of Americans place their threshold at or north of $4 per gallon.”