Following Yesterday’s Hype of Fastest Growth in 4 Years, June Retail Sales a “Mixed Bag”

Following Yesterday’s Hype of Fastest Growth in 4 Years, June Retail Sales a "Mixed Bag"

Courtesy of Mish 

The Wall Street Journal reports Retailers Turn in a Mixed Bag for June Sales.

U.S. retailers reported mixed results for June, with some stores benefiting from aggressive promotions and others hurt by consumers’ continued restrained spending.

Retailers from department stores to teen retailers responded to limited demand with increased markdowns. Big sales during June are common as retailers try to clear shelves for fall merchandise, especially back-to-school apparel. But a number of analysts are calling June’s discounting steep.

"Many retailers pulled out all of the stops with respect to promos in June," said Brian Sozzi, retail analyst at Wall Street Strategies. "During our store walks throughout the month, the level of promotions picked up relative to previous months."

"Sales in electronics, video games, music and movies were particularly soft for the month," said Target Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel. "We continue to plan our business cautiously." Target said it expects July same-store sales to be up in the low single digits.

Retailers were forecast to report 3.2% growth at stores open at least a year, according to the 28 companies tracked by Thomson Reuters. The estimate compares with a 4.9% drop last year. Same-store sales are considered a key barometer of retailers’ health because the figures allow clean comparisons as opposed to overall sales because store numbers fluctuate.

"We’re almost treading water compared to the building spending momentum we saw at the beginning of the year," said Mike Berry, director of industry research at MasterCard Inc.’s Spending Pulse unit. "At the beginning of the year, people were anticipating good news and spending increased. When economy didn’t turn around, consumers took a step back."

Retail Winners Exceeding Expectations

J.C. Penney Co. (JCP) sales +4.5%
Macy’s (M) sales +6.5% w
Nordstrom (JWN) sales +14%
Ambercrombie & Fitch (ANF) sales +9%

Retail Losers Not Meeting Expectations

Target (TGT) sales +1.7% vs. expectations of +2.7%
Kohl’s (KSS) sales +5.9% vs. +6.5% expected
Teen retailer Wet Seal (WTSLA) sales -3.6%
Gap (GPS) sales flat

Retail Sales Synopsis

Those numbers may seem pretty good but June sales benefited from a late Memorial Day that pushed sales into June. Moreover, June is normally a stronger month than May. More importantly, note how estimates were ratcheted lower as the month progressed.

At the beginning of June estimates were +3.8% in aggregate but by the end of the month the estimates (and numbers to beat), were a mere +3.2%.

Discounting was steep.

Here is one…