June Retail Comps Just Outpace Plan

New York —Same-store sales momentum continued to build during the fourth week of June, rising 3.4%, helped by the Father's Day promotion and increasingly warm weather, which helped spur sales of seasonal merchandise, the Johnson Redbook reported.

Sales continued to build during the past two weeks, reversing some softness earlier during the month, and sales for the four weeks month-to-date are now slightly ahead of plan, up 3.3%, compared with a targeted gain of 3.2%. Measured on a month-over-month basis, June sales so far are up 2.0% above May levels, just ahead of a 1.9% target. The five-week month ends July 1.

“The summer heat in turn promoted customer traffic for seasonal categories such as air conditioners, fans, pool and beach equipment, swimwear and other hot weather apparel as most customers are buying according to immediate needs,” said Redbook analyst Catlin Levis.

Breaking out results by region, “The west coast did particularly well during the week,” said Levis.

Discounters, focused on consumers' day-to-day needs, sharply outperformed their department store peers, pushing same-store sales up by 4.0%, compared with a more moderate gain of 2.5% at their full-price cousins.