It appears that the Easter Bunny brought more than chocolate and dyed eggs to retail sales this year. Below are some initial retail numbers from March.
From Retailing Today (emphasis is mine):
Retailers continued to show strength over last year for the month of March, with several retailers reporting double-digit same-store sales growth. Target posted a better-than-expected 10.3% comps increase, TJX, which reported a 12% increase, crushed analysts' estimate for a 6.5% gain and Ross Stores posted a 14% increase that also well exceeded expectations. Kohl's did especially well in March, with a 22.5% comps increase that far exceeded the 12% gain consensus forecast.
While those numbers are good, the impact of Easter cannot be underestimated. Costco and BJ's, for example, both noted in their March sales reports that the fact Easter fell in the March reporting period impacted their comparable sales by as much as 2%. For the month of March, Costco said its U.S. comps, excluding fuel, were up 2%. At BJ's, same-store sales, excluding fuel, were up 7.3%.
April's numbers will likely be at least somewhat lower than those posted in March, however the retail industry has been on an upswing so far in 2010 and should continue to grow as the economy improves.
No comments:
Post a Comment
All comments are moderated before being posted. Postings are at the sole discretion of the blog moderator. Anonymous postings are no longer allowed. I encourage your comments, but put you name on the bottom line!