U.S. Retail Sales Get Huge Boost in November

November's increase was led by department stores, followed closely behind by food, drug and mass retailers and apparel and accessory stores.

Abercrombie & Fitch reported the largest gain for the month among all retailers posting a 22.0 percent increase, followed by Zumiez at 20.7 percent, Tandy Leather Factory at 19.0 percent, Limited Brands at 10.0 and Buckle at 7.9 percent. Department stores reporting increases to Kantar included JCPenney at 9.2 percent, Dillard's at 8.0 percent and both Kohl's and Macy's at 6.1 percent. In addition, discounters such as Duckwall-Alco and Target posted gains at 5.8 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, a total of three retailers reporting to Kantar posted declines in November. They are: Hot Topic at -2.1 percent, Rite Aid at -1.3 percent

"Shoppers have been shaking off their recent cautiousness about spending and any last doubts may have been removed by all the great deals that came early and often in November," says Frank Badillo, senior economist at Kantar Retail. "The rest of the holiday looks positive given shoppers' spending plans, but they will no doubt be looking for more big promotions to sustain this kind of spending pace."

For a list of results from Kantar Retail:

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

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