Home Segment Sours at Dillard's

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/6/2009 12:00:00 AM

Little Rock, Ark. —

Department store operator Dillard's, Inc. registered its worst 2008 merchandise category decline in its home segment, the retailer reported.

Dillard's broke out its major category proportions in its 10-K annual report filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission last week. Of total net retail sales for fiscal 2008 of $6.74 billion, the "home and furniture" area dwindled to 7% of sales, down from 8% in 2007.

The company also showed that retail volume in the home and furniture group had fallen by 12.0% from 2007 to 2008, which followed a decline of 10.3% in 2007 and a drop of 8.9% in 2006.

The other main area of merchandise in similar straits is "juniors' and children's apparel," which tracked downward by 11.6% in 2008, 10.6% in '07, and 9.2% in '06.

The remaining four main areas all had less severe — but still consistently negative — single-digit declines in recent years. Those four groups are: cosmetics; ladies' apparel and accessories; men's apparel and accessories; and shoes.