June Sales Mixed for Big Retailers
The nation’s major retailers Thursday reported mixed and generally disappointing sales for June, which they attributed to sluggish consumer demand and unseasonably cool weather in many parts of the country.
The June sales results varied widely, with mass merchandisers such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. and J. C. Penney reporting sales declines from a year ago, while other chains such as Carter Hawley Hale Stores and May Department Stores reported solid monthly gains.
The monthly sales, which were competing against exceptionally strong year-ago figures, were generally below expectations for the month. As a result, a few retailers such as K mart and Dayton-Hudson said they expect their earnings for the second quarter, which ends in July, to be below last year’s results for the same period.
Link to Jobless Figures
Jeffrey Feiner, a retail analyst with New York-based Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, said the latest figures were “disappointing.” Another analyst, Jeffrey Edelman at Dean Witter Reynolds in New York, said the weak performance “has a direct relation to the weak employment numbers we saw (last) Friday,” which showed the unemployment rate holding at 7.3% for the fifth consecutive month.
Edelman added: “Very clearly, the economy is softening. It’s softening a little more than we would have thought.”
Besides the uncertain economic outlook, unseasonably cool weather in the Northeast and Midwest apparently cut into sales of some traditional summer goods. Edward R. Telling, chairman and chief executive of Sears--whose June sales fell 1.5% from last year’s record level--said cooler weather across most of the nation adversely affected sales of air conditioners and other weather-related merchandise.
Troy, Mich.-based K mart said sales rose 8.4% in June, but, after adjusting for stores open for one year or more, sales for the month were down 1.3%. Sales for the five months to date were up 13.2%. K mart Chairman Bernard M. Fauber said: “While total June sales were below plan, the pace of sales improved in the latter part of the month.” He added that it was “unlikely” that second-quarter earnings would reach 1984’s record level.
New York-based J. C. Penney’s sales fell 1.5% in June from a year ago, when sales rose 18.8%. For the five months to date, sales were up 0.7%.
F. W. Woolworth of New York said its domestic June sales rose 5%, with sales for the year to date up 8.1%.
Montgomery Ward, the Chicago-based retail unit of Mobil, reported a 5.6% decline in June sales and a 1.5% drop in sales for the year to date.
Los Angeles-based Carter Hawley Hale Stores, parent of the Broadway, Neiman-Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman chains, reported that sales were up 10.3% in June and 10.6% for the year to date. Sales of stores open one year or more were up 8.7% in June and 9% for the year to date.
Philip M. Hawley, chairman and chief executive of Carter Hawley, was more optimistic than some other retailing executives. “Sales were good across the country during June,” he said. “Women’s sportswear, cosmetics and menswear were particularly good sellers during the month.”
Federated Gains
Federated Department Stores, the Cincinnati-based parent of Bullock’s and I. Magnin, said June sales, excluding those of its Ralphs supermarket division, rose 4.1% from a year ago. Sales for the first five months were up 6.2%.
St. Louis-based May Department Stores, which operates May Co. California, said June sales rose 9.5% while year-to-date sales were up 11%. Sales at its department stores were up 4.3% in June. The company also owns shoe and discount stores.
Dayton-Hudson of Minneapolis said June sales were up 10.6%, with year-to-date sales up 14.1%. Sales of stores open one year or more were up 6.3% in June and 9.2% for the year so far. June sales for the company’s Hayward, Calif.-based Mervyn’s chain were up 14%, while those of Target Stores rose 10%.
Associated Dry Goods, the New York-based parent of Robinson’s, reported that June sales rose 3.9%.
Major Retailers’Sales in June
In millions Year % of dollars 1985 ago change Sears 2,170 2,204 -1.5 K mart 2,134 1,969 +8.4 J. C. Penney 1,096 1,113 -1.5 Federated* 707.3 679.8 +4.1 Wal-Mart Stores 641.0 531.0 +21.0 Dayton-Hudson 750.6 678.5 +10.6 Montgomery Ward 517.0 547.9 -5.6 May Dept. Stores 445.8 407.1 +9.5 Woolworth 325.2 309.7 +5.0 R. H. Macy 389.3 388.7 +0.1 Assoc. Dry Goods 394.4 379.6 +3.9 Carter Hawley Hale 345.0 312.8 +10.3
* Excludes supermarket sales. For 5 weeks.
