April Same-Store Sales Up 8.7 Percent

This gain shows improvement over the 2.5 percent same-store sales gain last month and the 1.2 percent gain last April. Kantar suggested that strong job gains in February and March cushioned the shopper response to rising prices.

Sales gains held nearly steady during the combined March-April period at 5.4 percent despite rising fuel prices, according to Kantar Retail, compared to last year’s 5.7 percent gain.

Retailer Limited Brands reported the largest increase with 20 percent, according to Kantar Retail, followed by Zumiez (17.5), Cato Corporation (17.0) and Sage Stores(15.1). The lowest gain was reported by Rite Aide, at 0.5 percent.

“The impact of rising fuel prices will become more obvious in the months ahead, but just how obvious depends on how much job and income gains also suffer under the weight of rising fuel prices and  economic uncertainty,” says Frank Badillo, senior economist at

For a list of the retailers reporting:

http://www.retailforward.com/retailintel/samestr_sales.pdf