Early August Comps Look Decent
By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/20/2007
New York — Tax holidays and some early back-to-school shopping gave sales a lift during the first week of August. The Johnson Redbook Index posting an aggregate comp of 2.3% for the week ended Aug. 11, slightly ahead of the 2.1% target.
"Sales were helped modestly by the back-to-school state tax holiday in Alabama, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Florida, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia," Redbook reported.
Redbook concluded that back-to-school sales have not yet had a significant impact, but are expected to grow as the month continues. Elsewhere, activity was sustained by non-seasonal categories, including consumer basics and household goods, Redbook reported.
"For August, some retailers will have a negative effect on the calendar shift, thereby bolstering July sales and dragging down August sales," the survey noted. On a month-over-month basis, comps so far a relatively flat — down by 0.6%.
For the week, both department stores and discounters exceeded their targets. Department stores eked a target comp gain of 0.3% with a 0.5% performance. Discounters rang up a comp gain of 3.5%, ahead of the targeted 3.2%.
| Week ended | 8/11 | 8/18 | 8/25 | 9/1 | Month | Target |
| Department stores* | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | |||
| Discounters | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.2 | |||
| Redbook Average | 2.3 | 2.3 | 2.1 | |||
| *Including chain stores and traditional department stores Source: Johnson Redbook Index |
||||||
