Comps mostly modest in October

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/3/2011 3:51:23 PM

New York - Nearly all of the publicly traded retailers tracked by HTT reported October comp increases, most of them in the low single-digit range, which sets the tone for a reservedly optimistic outlook for the holiday.

The round up, from best performers to worst:

• Dillard's up 8.0%. Home was significantly below trend.
• TJX Cos., up 3.0%. Comps were up 7.0% at its Home Goods nameplate. Home fashions were also a bright spot for TJX's Marmaxx division, which reported a 3.0% total comp. In the company's Winner's and Home Sense stores in Canada, "the home category performed better" than apparel, which was impeded by unseasonably warm weather.
• Costco, up 6.0%.
• Ross Stores, up 5.0% - exceeding expectations. Comps had been projected to rise 1% to 2%.
  Kohl's, up 3.9%. Home was the strongest business segment with a high single-digit comp gain. Within home, bath and towels were top performers.
• Target, up 3.3%. Home furnishings and décor suffered low single-digit comp declines. Domestics and decorative home were among the weakest categories in the department.
• Duckwall-Alco, up 2.8%. Housewares, commodities, and softlines divisions were growth areas.
• Stein Mart, up 1.0%. Home help offset problems in other departments, with linens among one of the strongest categories in the store.
• Macy's Inc., up 2.2%. High double-digit online sales - up 39.2% for macys.com and Bloomingdales.com combined - benefitted Macy's Inc.'s same-store sales for its third quarter and year to date.
• JCPenney, down 2.6%. Poor home sales at www.jcp.com - especially in furniture and soft window - resulted in a 4.5% comp decline for ecommerce.
• Bon-Ton Stores, down 10.2%. The company cited a shift in the advertising calendar and consumer restance to higher pricing on some (unspecified) products.