Consumers Slowly Return to Stores

U.S. chain store sales rose in the latest week, spurred by sales of winter clothing and Halloween merchandise. But consumer spending still has a long way to recover from its steep fall after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, two reports showed.

Retail sales at U.S. chain stores inched up 0.5% in the latest week, according to Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg’s Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot, compared with flat sales a week earlier.

Although this was the largest weekly gain since Aug. 18, the BTM sales index stands 2.6% below the pre-attack level, a large margin for an index that rarely moves more than 1 percentage point on a weekly basis.

Meanwhile, Federated Department Stores Inc., parent of Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, reduced its earnings estimates for 2001, citing the Sept. 11 attacks and the stagnant U.S. economy.

Federated shares rose 60 cents to $32 on the New York Stock Exchange.

September was the worst retail month since the Commerce Department began keeping track in 1992.