Does this looks like bad news to you? Retailers kick butt in Jan.
U.S. Retailers Post Strong January Sales
1.11 p.m. ET (1811 GMT) February 4, 1999 By Gregory Crawford
CHICAGO — Retailers in the United States posted strong sales in January as consumers resumed their buying spree that slowed late last year.
Buying was strong across the retail sector, with specialty apparel retailers and discount stores continuing to attract shoppers and department stores also drawing solid activity.
"January 1999 sales for the major retailers were above expectations, with value oriented retailers posting extremely strong increases," Lehman Brothers retail industry analyst Jeffrey Feiner said in a report.
Analysts said the still-strong economy and cold weather during the month were the driving forces behind the sales gains, with clearance sales mainly helping department stores.
Lehman Brothers' same store sales growth index rose 8.7 percent in January compared with a 5.9 percent increase in December and a 5 percent increase in January 1998.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, said comparable store sales in January rose 10.3 percent while total sales surged 17.3 percent to $9.5 billion from $8.1 billion.
Comparable store sales, also known as same store sales, count sales at stores open at least a year.
Sales at another leading discounter, Dayton Hudson Corp.'s Target unit, rose 9.6 percent in January.
But the real story for Dayton Hudson, the No. 5 U.S. retailer, was in its department stores division, where same store sales rose 11.8 percent, the unit's best performance in 10 years. The division includes Marshall Field's stores.
"Sales in January were above expectations at each of our divisions," Dayton Hudson's chairman and chief executive officer Bob Ulrich said in a statement.
The numbers boosted shares of Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson, which were ahead $1.875 at $65.25 on the New York Stock Exchange in the face of a weaker broad market.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., the No. 2 U.S. retailer, said its same store sales in January rose 2.6 percent but total domestic store revenues slipped 0.4 percent to $1.82 billion from $1.83 billion in January 1998.
Sears chairman and chief executive officer Arthur Martinez said in a statement that women's ready-to-wear clothing, intimate apparel, cosmetics, all categories of home appliances and home improvement merchandise were top sellers.
In the specialty apparel segment, Gap Inc., which also owns Old Navy and Banana Republic stores, said same store sales were up 15 percent and total sales in January jumped 38 percent to $528 million from $384 million a year ago.
Ann Taylor Stores Corp. recorded a 13.3 percent same store sales gain and a 23.7 percent gain in total sales, to $57.9 million from $46.8 million.
At Buckle Inc., which caters to teenagers, same store sales in January climbed 14.9 percent and total sales rose 26.1 percent to $18.4 million from $14.6 million.
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