July Retail Sales Show Solid Gain Over Year Ago

Same-store retail sales for July were up 2.9 percent compared to a decline of 4.6 percent for July 2009, according to Kantar Retail. However, July sales were down slightly versus last month’s increase of 3.6 percent.

Kantar Retail attributed the slight decline in July to a “tough promotional environment and the diverging spending intentions of shoppers by income group.”

Among the 31 retailers reporting monthly sales, department stores posted better than average results over last year.

Neiman Marcus reported the largest gain among all the retailers posting a 12.3 percent increase, while Nordstrom reported a 7.6 increase and Macy’s a 7.3 percent increase.

Overall, Limited posted the second largest gain in same-store sales at 12 percent, followed by Tandy Leather Factory at 11 percent. July’s biggest declines, according to Kantar Retail’s report, were Buckle, Hot Topic and Duckwall-Alco, down 9.3 percent, 9 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively, versus last year.

“Retail sales growth appears to be leveling off at a modest pace as it moderates from a spring surge fed by economic stimulus and pent-up demand. But the results are uneven among retailers, which reflects tough price competition in certain channels and diverging spending intentions among upper- and lower-income shoppers,” says Frank Badillo, senior economist, Kantar Retail.For a list of results: http://www.retailforward.com/retailintel/samestr_sales.pdf.