US Apparel Retailers Report Modest December Comp Sales

(RTTNews) - U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday reported modest sales at established stores in December amid a lackluster holiday season, despite deep discounts and promotions, as nervous shoppers held off on discretionary spending.

Sales for the month were also hurt by the winter storm late in the month as shoppers were expected to hit the stores for last-minute Christmas shopping. There was also one less weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year.

The month of December saw retailers making their last-ditch effort to attract more shoppers to stores after weak sales results in November with aggressive promotions. Retailers normally rake up 40 percent of their annual income in the holiday season.

According to ShopperTrak, foot traffic at US retailers fell 14.6 percent this holiday season compared to the year prior.

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.

L Brands, Inc. (LB), the operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, said its December comparable store sales increased 2 percent, reflecting strength of its Victoria's Secret Stores, despite weakness at La Senza stores. The result missed Street expectations for a 3.7 percent increase. Net sales were $2.10 billion, up from $1.95 billion last year.

Stein Mart, Inc. (SMRT) reported a 4.5 percent growth in comparable store sales for the month of December. Meanwhile, total monthly sales decreased 1.6 percent to $175.6 million from the prior-year month.

"We are delighted with our December comparable store sales increase which was achieved despite adverse weather in much of the country," CEO Jay Stein stated.

Another specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) reported Wednesday that its comparable store sales for December declined 2.4 percent, missing analysts' expectations for a 1.6 percent growth. Total net sales also increased 4.2 percent from last year to $125.3 million.

Teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) announced that comparable store net sales for the month of December decreased 2.8 percent. Net sales also declined 2.2 percent to $180.9 million from last year's $185.0 million.

Meanwhile, value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that December same-store sales decreased 4 percent, and total sales also declined 3 percent from last year to $103.3 million.

"December same-store sales results were negatively impacted by bad weather in a number of our markets early in the month. Excluding the impact of this weather event, the sales environment remained difficult but same-store sales were in line with our year-to-date trend," commented John Cato, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cato.

Meanwhile, a report released from the Conference Board a week ago showed that U.S. consumer confidence index rebounded by more than expected in the month of December to near pre-shutdown levels, with sentiment regarding current conditions climbing to a five-year high.

The consumer confidence index jumped to 78.1 in December from 72.0 in November. Economists had expected the index to climb to 76.8 from the 70.4 originally reported for the previous month.