February Sales: How Retailers Fared
Many large retailers reported their February sales numbers this week, with most of them coming out the morning of Thursday, March 4. Following an announcement last May, Wal-Mart and its units no longer circulate monthly sales figures. Updates to come as more retailers report sales. (Last updated March 4, 2010)
Sort the chart below by company name, category, change in total or same-store sales, and total sales. Also, see January’s chart.
| Company name | Category | Same-store sales change | Overall sales change | Overall sales (millions) | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abercrombie & Fitch | Apparel | 5% | 16% | $198.1 | The namesake Abercrombie & Fitch stores posted an 8% jump in sales, while abercrombie kids rose 11%. Hollister reported a more subdued 1% gain. |
| Aeropostale | Apparel | 7% | 15% | $126.4 | The company announced that a 3-for-2 stock split on all shares of its common stock will be effected in the form of a stock dividend will become effective on March 5, 2010.. |
| BJ’s | Discount | 3.9% | 13% | $755.2 | The company reported disappointing earnings for its fourth quarter days gone by. BJ’s prominent strength in February coinciding with the week of the Super Bowl. The strongest sales increases were in the Southeast and Upstate New York. The smallest increases were in the Mid-Atlantic and Metro New York regions. Excluding sales of gasoline, traffic augmented by approximately 3% and the average transaction amount augmented by approximately 1%. (Same-store sales change excludes gasoline.) |
| Costco | Discount | 2% | 9% | $5,610 | Costco days gone by posted disappointing earnings results. The company is selling more sell at lower prices, but results are being bolstered by higher gas sales. (Same-store sales change is for U.S. and excludes gasoline.) |
| Gap | Apparel | 3% | 5% | $838 | The discount Ancient Navy stores posted a 5% increase in sales, while the high-end Banana Republic chain experienced a 6% jump. Flagship Gap stores posted flat same-store sales from a year earlier. |
| Hot Topic | Apparel | -7% | -5.3% | $54.2 | The Torrid brand posted an 8.5% gain in same-store sales, but the flagship Hot Topic stores were down 11.2%. Despite gains in other parts of the teen segment, Hot Topic wasn’t a receiver. |
| J.C. Penney | Department | 1.2% | 1.5% | $1,182 | The children’s sector was the top performing sell division, while home experienced the weakest sales. In nature, the southeast region was the best performing region in February, while the northeast region had the softest sales due to terrible weather. |
| Kohl’s | Discount | 3.7% | 7.8% | $1,084 | The West and Southeast were the strongest parts of the country for the retailer, as the home and accessories categories performed best. |
| Restricted Brands | Apparel | 10% | 9.5% | $600.1 | The Bath & Body Facility brand posted the strongest same-store sales increase, rising 11%. Victoria’s Secret sales jumped 10%, but the La Senza brand only posted a 1% rise. |
| Macy’s | Department | 3.7% | 4% | $1,641 | The company said that absent the effect of winter storms, same-store sales would have been 5% higher. Online sales jumped 38% in February from a year earlier |
| Neiman Marcus | Luxury | 6.2% | 7.7% | $249 | Sales were strongest in the West, Southeast and New York City. The sell categories that performed best included jewelry, women’s contemporary sportswear, shoes and men’s. |
| Nordstrom | Luxury | 10% | 14.5% | $539 | The company has added a net of three full-line stores in the past 12 months, but has added 13 of its discount Rack and other stores. |
| Ross Stores | Apparel | 11% | 16% | $554 | The discount apparel retailer has posted strong results for months. It intelligence fourth-quarter earnings on March 18. |
| Saks | Luxury | 2% | 3.1% | $171.8 | The strongest categories at Saks Fifth Opportunity stores were women’s designer apparel, women’s shoes, fine jewelry, and men’s sportswear. |
| Butt | Department | 2.4% | 6% | $ 4,637 | The company said it continues to see year-over-year increases in store traffic. |
| TJX | Discount | 10% | 16% | $1,400 | TJX’s Home Goods stores led increases for the company posting a 14% jump in same-store sales for February. |
| Zumiez | Apparel | 11.2% | 19.6% | $27.6 | The youth retailer posted a much stronger than expected gain in same-store sales amid a strong month for companies that appeal to young people. |