The month of October brought good news for some retailers across the U.S., while others fared not as well. Below is a summary of some retail sales reports for October and the third quarter:
• Limited Brands (Columbus, Ohio) reported net sales rose 10 percent and comparable store sales increased 9 percent for the four weeks ended October 28, 2006. For the third quarter, net sales grew 12 percent compared to the same period last year, while comparable store sales increased 10 percent.
• Abercrombie & Fitch (New Albany, Ohio) reported its net sales rose 15 percent for the four-week period ended October 28, 2006, compared to last year, while comparable store sales decreased 3 percent. Year-to-date, the company reported a net sales increase of 20 percent and comparable store sales increased 4 percent.
• Nordstrom Inc. (Seattle) reported preliminary sales of $622.4 million for the four-week period ending October 28, 2006, an increase of 11.9 percent compared to same period last year. Same-store sales increased 10.7 percent.
• Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) reported total sales decreased 7.9 percent compared to last year, impacted by the closing of 78 duplicative store locations over the past year. On a same-store basis, Federated's sales for October were up 7.7 percent. For the third quarter, the company's total sales increased 6 percent, and same-store sales were up 5.9 percent.
• Gap Inc. (San Francisco) reported net sales of $1.25 billion for the four-week period ended October 28, 2006, a 3 percent decrease compared with the same period last year. The company's comparable store sales for October 2006 fell 7 percent.
“October was a transitional month as all brands continued fall clearance events and introduced initial holiday flows,” said Sabrina Simmons, senior vp, finance, Gap Inc. “Total company merchandise margins were above last year driven by Gap and Banana Republic. We were pleased with customer response to our Product (RED) collection at Gap brand, and with our continued overall progress at Banana Republic.”
• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bentonville, Ark.) reported the total company’s net sales rose 11.7 percent for the four-week period ended Oct. 27, 2006, compared to the same period last year. Comparable store sales for total U.S. stores rose .5 percent.
The company says it continues to see a negative impact on comparable store sales from last year’s hurricanes and the retailer’s extensive remodeling program. Trends for the company's October sales were similar to September, with food and consumables outpacing general merchandise. Wal-Mart expects its comparable store sales in the U.S. for November to be flat.