September Comps Stay Soft

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/15/2007 12:00:00 AM

New York —

Retailers saw a bit of a bounce in the fifth and final week of the September retail month (ended Oct. 6), with comp sales up 1.8%, following a 1.5% uptick the week prior, the Johnson Redbook reported.

Still, comps for the full month fell short of goals, with a 2.0% gain well below the 2.6% target. Department stores and discounters alike widely missed their marks.

September comps were 0.3% above August, also far shy of the goal of an 0.8% gain.

"Looking ahead," said Redbook analyst Catlin Levis, "October is a four-week month ending Nov. 3. The month contains two holiday events: Columbus Day and Halloween. Year-over-year comparisons during October are favorable due to the fact that Halloween falls six days earlier this year. This will sweep some business into fiscal October from November."

"Our preliminary target for October based on retailers' plans is for a 2.5% year-over-year increase," Levis projected, "which equates to a monthly 0.3% decline."

Johnson Redbook Index
Fifth week of September, year-over-year % change