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NEW YORK — There were encouraging signs for mass market retail sales in March, although official figures had not been issued by the Department of Commerce by presstime.
There were encouraging signs for mass market retail sales in March, although official figures had not been issued by the Department of Commerce by presstime.
According to The New York Times, the consensus outlook among Wall Street analysts was for a 0.4% gain in core retail sales, excluding auto and fuel revenues.
Regional discount store and pharmacy operator Fred’s Inc. reported a comparable-store sales increase of 1.9% for the month, in contrast to a 1.2% decrease a year ago. Total sales for the Memphis-based chain edged up 0.3% to $191.7 million, but that increase reflects a net closing of 62 stores last year. Excluding the closed stores, sales rose 5%.
"We are pleased that March sales were at the high end of our guidance," said chief executive officer Jerry Shore. "We ended the month with strong Easter product sales in toys, candy and giftware, and our pharmacy department continued to post strong revenue and comparable-script growth in March. At the same time, we were negatively affected in spring seasonal and lawn and garden product categories due to the port strike and the wet weather during March."
Family Dollar Stores Inc. chairman and chief executive officer Howard Levine addressed the current sales climate when the company reported its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2015. "While our trends in late February were adversely impacted by severe winter weather, our sales trends in March rebounded nicely, reflecting both improved traffic trends and the benefit of an earlier Easter," he said.
The Easter calendar shift hurt Costco Wholesale Corp., however, trimming one sales day from the reporting period. The company estimates the change cost it 1% to 1.5% in net and comparable-store sales. While overall sales rose 5% to $67.58 billion, comparable-store sales fell 2%, further than the 1.2% decrease predicted by analysts. Comp-store results for U.S. warehouses were flat, but excluding the negative impact from gas price deflation and foreign currency exchange, comp-store sales for the total company and the U.S. operations rose 4%.
