Sporting goods stores appear to have fared better than other types of stores in April, according to preliminary government estimates released Wednesday.
Retail sales of sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores rose 0.8 percent in April from March and were up 6.4 percent from April 2014, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The estimates will be adjusted twice in coming months as more data is collected.
The National Retail Federation said its analysis of the numbers indicates April retail sales, excluding autos, gas and restaurants, were essentially unchanged from March, but up 1.9 percent on a year-over-year basis. NRF estimated year-over-year sales by sporting good, hobby, book and music stores grew at 4.2 percent.
Additional findings from NRF’s monthly retail sales analysis found that:
- Clothing and clothing accessories stores:
- +0.2 percent month-to-month
- +0.7 percent year-over-year
- Online and other nonstore retailers:
- +0.8 percent month-to-month
- +6.1 percent year-over-year
- General merchandise stores:
- -0.5 percent month-to-month
- -1.5 percent year-over-year
“April retail sales, similar to March, were affected positively and negatively by the Easter-calendar shift,” National Retail Federation Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz said. “It appears that the ‘Easter effect’ was muted. Taken together, consumer spending on a year-over-year basis was anemic.”
“It looks like there were more sales conducted at much lower prices,” Kleinhenz continued. “Consumers took advantage of the low cost of goods and merchandise. Consequently, flat retail sales numbers may not truly show the health or strength of consumer spending.”
