Smattering Of U.S. Clothing Retailers Post Decent August Sales

(RTTNews) - A few U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday reported decent sales growth during the month of August, a sign that customers may have opened their wallets at bigger stores during the back-to-school shopping season.

Teen apparel retailer, Buckle, Inc. (BKE) announced that comparable store net sales for the month of August edged up 0.8 percent. Net sales grew 2.5 percent to $103.6 million from last year.

Value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that August same-store sales were up 3 percent, and total sales increased 7 percent from last year to $63.6 million.

"August same-store sales were above our expectations but consistent with our recent trend. We remain cautious in regard to the remainder of the year," commented John Cato, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cato.

Stein Mart, Inc. (SMRT) reported a 2.5 percent growth in comparable store sales for the month of August. Total monthly sales also grew 3.8 percent to $86.5 million from the prior-year month.

L Brands, Inc. (LB), the operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, said its August comparable store sales increased 5 percent, reflecting positive sales across its brand stores. Net sales also grew 9 percent to $765.3 million, up from $704.7 million last year.

A report released from the Conference Board last week showed that U.S. consumer confidence improved for the fourth consecutive month in August, jumping to its highest level in seven years, as they remain quite positive about the short-term outlooks for the economy and labor market.

The U.S. consumer confidence index jumped to 92.4 in August, the highest level since October 2007, from a revised 90.3 in July. The consensus estimate of economists called for a small retreat in the index to 89.5 from the reading of 90.9 initially reported in July.

Sales at established stores or comparable-store sales is a key retail industry performance metric to gauge activity at store locations that have been open for at least a year.