Macy's home department fares well in 3Q

Omnichannel initiative steals spotlight

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/9/2011 2:00:34 PM

Cincinnati - Macy's home store sales were "good" during the third quarter, with the best results stemming from textiles as well as furniture and luggage. But its omnichannel strategy marrying in-store and online businesses stole the show.

Online sales, for macys.com and bloomingdales.com combined, were up 39.8% in the quarter and 39.4% year to date compared to the same periods last year.

"Our internet and mobile sites are generating well not only on their own, but they're helping drive sales into stores," she said. "But even with the very strong online business, our store business is stronger than ever. So they really are working in tandem," cfo Karen Hoguet said during the retailer's quarterly call this morning.

She said Macy's omnichannel customer "spends more with us. And actually, [the omnichannel initiative] is turning out to be far better in churning sales growth than we ever we thought."

Sales for the quarter ended Oct. 29 rose 4.1% to $5.85 billion. Comps increased 4 .0% gain. Online comps contributed 1.5 percentage points to the comp, Macy's reported.

Third quarter net income ballooned to $139 million from just $10 million last year. Earnings per share rose to 32 cents compared 2 cents in last year's third quarter, which included expenses of 6 cents per share associated with the repurchase of debt.

Year to date, total sales climbed 5.7% to $17.68 billion, and comps were up 5.3%.

Net income for the 39 weeks nearly tripled to $511 million from $180 million. EPS was $1.18, compared to 42 cents in the year-ago period. Excluding debt repurchase expenses, last year's EPS was 52 cents.

Terry Lundgren, corporate chairman, president and ceo, said Bloomingdale's "also enjoyed a strong quarter," both in stores and online.