October Retail Sales Sluggish as Caution Reigns

Retail industry sales were spotty in October, rising only about 4% nationally, as consumers exhibited a continued caution that could presage a weak holiday shopping season.

Sales of non-apparel items such as home furnishings were strong throughout the month, but shoppers shied away from clothing. Thus, some discounters had large revenue increases while specialty apparel chains reported very weak sales. Meanwhile, retailers with a large stake in the California market continued to struggle.

“Consumers will be careful with their money this holiday season,” said industry analyst Walter Loeb of New York-based Loeb Associates.

The nation’s top discounter, Wal-Mart Stores, had an 8% increase in same-store sales--revenue from stores open the last 12 months. Rival Kmart had an October sales increase of 1.4%.

Same-store sales at Los Aneles-based Carter Hawley Hale Stores, operator of the Broadway chain, decreased 2.6%.

“Sales during the final week (of October) were soft, worsened by the effect of the fires in Southern California,” said David Dworkin, President of Carter Hawley.

Same-store sales at Mervyn’s, operated by Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson Corp., declined 10%. About 45% of Mervyn’s stores are in California. Overall, sales at Dayton Hudson declined 0.7% for the month.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. continued to record sales surges, with a 12.7% increase. May Department Stores, operator of Robinson-May, reported a 5.8% increase in sales, and J.C. Penney saw a 3.6% increase.

Specialty apparel chains were particularly hard hit. Same-store sanes at Gap Inc. were up only 2%, and sales at Limited Stores Inc. were flat compared to a year ago.