Slow traffic impacts retail same-store sales

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/31/2001 12:00:00 AM

New York — With traffic slowing across the board, same-store retail sales barely edged ahead during the third week of October, managing just a skimpy 0.1 percent gain, according to the Redbook Retail Sales Average.

After recording a solid gain of 2.3 percent the prior week, sales lost all their forward momentum, said Redbook analyst Catlin Levis. For the three weeks month-to-date, sales were up just 1.0 percent from year-ago levels.

"Sales growth fell back in the third week of October after retailers failed to sustain the previous week's brief uptick," said Levis. "Both discount and department store sales were weaker. The slowdown was widespread and generally attributed to declines in traffic rather than a lack of interest in any particular merchandise category."

Category reports from retailers around the nation, Levis added, "indicated that consumers were focusing on non-seasonal items like home products and jewelry and neglecting the seasonal apparel that is currently the focus of department store merchandising. Discount stores fared better on their more diversified merchandise bases."