The record cold temperatures in much of the country in January, coupled with clearance sales and gift card redemptions, had a considerable warming effect on retail sales for the month as retailers posted surprisingly strong results to close out the retail calendar year.
Increased traffic lifted all boats in the mall as even the department stores got into the act, joining mall specialty retailers like Foot Locker and Pacific Sunwear to post stronger results. The lone down trend occurred in the family footwear sector as both chains we track saw comp store sales decline for the month.
“This is definitely a lot stronger than expected,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers. “And it is across the board. This is a taste of the kind of performance we're likely to see in 2004.”
Retailers reportedly had less winter inventory to mark down following a fairly respectable Holiday season and an impressive consumer buying surge in the last week of the season. But some retailers with lower inventories were actually hurt in the month with few Fall/Winter goods to sell as the colder temperatures limited early Spring and athletic footwear purchases.
According to the International Council of Shopping Centers/UBS survey of 72 retailers, same-store sales for the month were up 5.8% for the month, better than the 4.0% to 4.5% gain previously projected. Go to page 11 for the Sports Executive Weekly chart of monthly retail results.
Foot Locker, Inc. got into the act for their fiscal fourth quarter, reporting a 3.9% for the three-month period through January. Management told SEW that December was the best month of Q4 with comp store sales increasing in “mid single digits”, while November was in “very low singles”.
January was seen as “in-between” with comps in the “strong low singles”.
The U.S. “Locker” business, which includes Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker and Kids Foot Locker, was up in “mid singles” on a comp store basis for the quarter. Champs was up in “low singles” and the DotCom business, including Eastbay, was up in “low to mid singles”.
Foot Locker management said the Internet end of the business “continues to grow”. Europe comps were up in “mid singles”.
Stronger categories included Classics and Boots and the Brown Sneaker trend seen at B-T-S continued to show strength. Foot Locker saw “strong gains” in Licensed Apparel and Private Label. Branded Apparel was the lone category described as “weak”.
Total sales for the company were up 9.8% to $1.3 billion for the fourth quarter. Excluding the effect of the weaker dollar, sales were up 5.6% for the period. Full year sales increased 6.0% to $4.8 billion, or up 2.2% on a currency neutral basis. Full year comps declined 0.5%.
The improving picture here, undoubtedly helped by Nikes increased allocations and the exclusive 20 Pack program, led the retailer to estimate that Q4 earnings will be at the high end of their previously stated range of 41 cents to 45 cents per share.
Hibbett Sporting Goods continued their strong string of quarterly results, reporting that comparable store sales for the fourth quarter increased 8.3% over the prior-year period. Full year comps increased 5.3% from the prior-year period. Total sales for the quarter increased 20.8% to $91.2 million and full year sales gained 15.0% to $321.0 million.
HIBB said apparel, led by licensed products, posted a double-digit comparable sales increase. Footwear, driven by ladies, was up mid-single digits.
Pacific Sunwear broke the billion dollar mark in sales for the year after reporting that total company same-store sales increased 12.4% for January. PacSun same-store sales were up 12.7% and d.e.m.o. same-store sales gained 10.7%. Total sales for the month grew 24.5% to $54.4 million.
PSUN comp store sales grew 13.1% in fiscal 2003 on top of a 9.7% increase in fiscal 2002. PacSun comps increased 12.3% and d.e.m.o. comps were up 21.0%. Total sales were $1.04 billion, up 22.9% from fiscal 2002.
Unfortunately, the good fortunes in the mall did not extend to the family footwear segment as January comp store sales at Famous Footwear decreased 5.4% on top of a 6.1% decrease in the year-ago period. Total sales for the month were off 3.8% to $55.5 million. Sales for the full fiscal year were $1.073 billion, compared to $1.075 billion for the previous year. Same-store sales for the year were down 2.4%.
The retailer was focused on clearance in their stores and “preparing to receive new spring goods”, according to BWS chairman and CEO Ron Fromm. He said Famous Footwear ended the month with inventory levels that were down about 5% versus last year. He indicated in a release that boot sales were strong across women's, men's and kid's, but sales of athletics and casual footwear were “below last year”.
Shoe Carnival didnt fare much better as January comps decreased 3.3% on top of a 10.4% decrease last year. Total sales increased 6.4% to $30.2 million. Womens non-athletic was down “high singles” and Mens non-athletic was off in “mid singles” Kid's was up “mid singles”, while Athletic declined in “low singles”. Accessories were “flat”.
SCVL blamed the soft results on “lower customer traffic levels”, but said that Inventories are not overly burdened with clearance merchandise. Inventories are down 1% on a per store basis.
Sales for the fiscal year increased 7.4% to $557.9 million comparable store sales decreased 3.0% for the 52-week period.
