February Was No Valentine for Retailers

February retail same-store sales gained only 2.9 percent, according to the monthly Goldman Sachs retail composite index. The gain had been 5 percent in January.

The report said spending was curbed by wintry weather that hurt demand for spring apparel, which had been accelerated by an unusually warm January.

Apparel retailers, including Gap Inc. (San Francisco) and chains catering to teenagers, posted the worst results. Department stores had a 1.8 percent gain, the slowest rise since November.

Gap said same-store sales plunged 11 percent. Sales declined 7 percent at Gap stores in North America, 11 percent at Banana Republic and 14 percent at the Old Navy chain.

Limited Brands (Columbus, Ohio) reported a 5 percent increase, led by a 9 percent gain at Express.

Abercrombie & Fitch (New Albany, Ohio) posted its smallest same-store sales gain in more than a year. Sales rose 5 percent, well below the 14 percent estimate of analysts.

Among department stores, same-store sales at J. C. Penney (Plano, Texas) climbed 2.3 percent. Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati) posted a 1 percent gain. Saks Inc. (Birmingham, Ala.) said sales dropped 6.4 percent.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) said same-store sales rose 3.2 percent, within its forecast range. Sales gained 2.9 percent at Wal-Mart's main chain of discount stores and 4.6 percent at Sam's Club. The company forecast a gain of 1 percent to 3 percent for March.

Target Corp. (Minneapolis) said sales rose 3.6 percent last month, beating estimates.

Same-store sales at Kohl’s Corp. (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) rose 3.4 percent, more than twice the estimates of analysts. The Costco Wholesale Corp. (Issaquah, Wash.), the nation's largest warehouse club, said sales climbed 8 percent.

The report said consumer confidence in the United States slid to a three-month low in February because of higher heating bills and a drop in home sales.