August comps off to a lackluster start

-- Home Textiles Today, 8/11/2009 8:29:00 AM

First week of August year-over-year % change

New York – With stores still transitioning from summer clearance sales into back-to-school season, same-store sales for the first week of August declined 4.2% from the same period last year, the Johnson Redbook reported today.

Department stores, which Redbook expects to report a 6.4% drop in comps for the month, did slightly better than target during the first selling week, with a drop in comps of 6.2%. Discounters performed on target with a 3.1% decline.

“The full impact of back-to-school will not be seen until later this month, or early September, it remains too early to assess the trend,” said Catlin Levis, Redbook analyst.

“Summer clearances are generally being priced less aggressively than usual as better control left leaner inventories for clearance. Sales were helped by back-to-school tax holidays in Alabama, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia,” she said.