Retailers Say Sales Are Back on Track

Several retailers, led by No. 1 Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said Monday that September sales growth is tracking according to plan, providing slight optimism after several months of gloomy results.

Analysts, however, cautioned that one positive week does not necessarily foreshadow a lasting rebound, especially because September sales face easy comparisons with the year-ago month, when consumers, shaken by the Sept. 11 attacks, reduced spending.

Wal-Mart said sales at stores open at least a year increased within the expected range of 4% to 6% for the week ended Sept. 6. The discounter said sales benefited from strong demand for electronics, intimate apparel, pet supplies, hardware, household chemicals, pharmacy products and food.

Wal-Mart said it expects September same-store sales at its struggling warehouse unit, Sam’s Club, to improve over August levels, when they rose 1.1%.

Target Corp. said sales in the week through Sept. 7 were slightly off plan companywide because of lackluster demand for items such as menswear, intimate apparel and watches.

But sales at the Target discount division were in line with a forecast of 3% to 5% growth.

Sears, Roebuck & Co. said sales for the week trended slightly above its expectations of “a high single digit decline” for this month. Sears cited home appliances and hardware among the strong sellers.

Federated Department Stores Inc., which operates the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s chains, said same-store sales growth was within its forecast of 3% to 5%.

Last week, all retailers reported weaker-than-expected sales for August.

J.C. Penney Co., which posted August sales slightly higher than forecasts, said last week’s sales tracked expectations of flat to up slightly.