Retailers Say Weather Warmed March Sales
Shopping for spring apparel and other seasonal items plus a temporary spell of warm weather boosted retail business in March, department store chains reported Thursday. And, with a late Easter selling season still ahead, results are likely to improve further in April.
Executives of several major general merchandise and department store chains said they were satisfied with their results. In a few cases, March sales surpassed the weak levels retailers had privately projected.
“On balance, they are slightly better than expected,” said Wayne Hood, an analyst at Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. “We can look forward to a continuing good trend in April,” he added.
The overall results were good considering that holiday promotions timed to capitalize on the Easter season had not gotten into full swing. Easter falls three weeks later this year than in 1989.
Last month’s tallies were measured against a year earlier, when retailers benefited from a traditional pickup in shopping ahead of Palm and Easter Sundays, a time that brings customers into stores hunting for new outfits.
But it appears that this year shoppers ignored the calendar somewhat and started freshening up their warm weather wardrobes early. Mild temperatures in parts of the country might have put them in the mood.
“Generally we look at March and April together every year because the Easter holiday switches and that affects sales,” said Gregg Sloate, retail trade analyst at Los Angeles-based Seidler Amdec Securities.
Sloate said that, with the help of the brisk apparel business Easter typically spurs, he expected stronger sales in April.
Apparel sales outpaced other types of merchandise in March, continuing a pattern that has prevailed for more than a year. Sales of hard goods, such as expensive household appliances, were softer.
Mediocre economic growth has kept consumers cautious about spending heavily or going deeper into debt to finance costly purchases. Car buying, for instance, has been very sluggish.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. stood out from the rest of the pack. The Bentonville, Ark.-based discounter posted a 27% March sales spurt.
MAJOR RETAILERS’ SALES IN MARCH
In millions % of dollars 1990 change Sears 2,980 +1.3 Wal-Mart Stores 2,430 +27.0 J.C. Penney 1,350 +9.7 Melville Corp. 687.1 +2.8 Woolworth* 476.0 -1.0 TJX ** 205.5 +9.4 Montgomery Ward 399.2 + 1.8
* Excludes foreign sales.** Formerly Zayre
Results are due April 12 from K mart Corp., Dayton Hudson Corp., Limited Inc. and others. Federated Department Stores Inc., Allied Stores Corp., Campeau Corp., R. H. Macy & Co. and Batus Inc. do not report their sales monthly.
