Pacific Sunwear continued its positive string of monthly comps store sales gains in May, albeit at a slower pace that saw the mall teen retailer post its first non-double-digit comp gain since March of last year.

Consolidated company same-store sales increased 7.8% for the month, with the PacSun same store comping up 8.3% on top of a 12.5% increase in May last year and d.e.m.o. same-store sales comping up 3.0% for the month on top of a 20.1% comp sales gain in the year-ago period. Total company sales were up 18.5% to $72.4 million versus total sales of $61.1 million for May 2003.

PSUN estimated that the shift in the Memorial Day weekend into the June numbers impacted May comps by approximately 220 basis points in gain.

The PacSun stores saw the Guy’s comps rise high-single-digits while Girl’s was down low-single-digits. Footwear again comped up more than 20% and Accessories comp sales were up high-single-digits. The d.e.m.o. chain reported that both the Girl’s and Guy’s businesses were up in low-single-digits, while Accessories were up mid-single-digits for the month.

The Buckle appears to be putting together its own string of positive comp sales months, posting its sixth straight month in the positive after a rough 2003. May comps were up 8.3% versus a flat comp sales performance in the year-ago period. Year-to-date comps are up 11.0% versus a 0.6% decline in the YTD period last year. BKE now excludes Internet sales from its comp sales calculation.

Total sales for May increased 14.9% to $27.3 million from sales of $23.8 million in the year-ago month.

According to the ICSC survey Apparel specialty stores on average climbed 5.3% for the month, led by Aeropostale with a 27% increase and American Eagle, which increased 11.4% for the period. The Gap was up 6.0% in May, with U.S. Gap stores comping up 11% for the period.

In the family footwear sector, Shoe Carnival was back in positive territory again, ekeing out a 0.5% comp store sales gain for May versus a 3.8% decline in may last year. Comps are still negative for the YTD period, off 1.5% so far this year on top of a 5.1% decrease for the YTD period last year. Total sales for the month were up 8.8% to $43.1 million from sales of $39.6 million in May last year.

Surprisingly, it was Athletics that appeared to be the drag for SCVL in May, reversing a trend that saw the category driving sales for much of the year. Men’s and Women’s Athletics were down low-single digits for the month, while total footwear inched up 0.4% for the period. The balance of the Women’s business was basically flat and Men’s was up low-single-digits. Children’s footwear, which includes Children’s Athletics, was down low-single-digits. Accessories were up low-single digits.

Famous Footwear pointed to the shift in the Memorial Day weekend as reason for the reversal of its recent positive trend in comps store sales. May comps were down 2.2% on top of a 1.6% decline in May last year.

The company said that excluding the shift in the holiday weekend, comps would have been flat to last year. Same-store sales for the fiscal year-to-date period were up 1.4% versus a 4.5% decline in the previous YTD period.
One industry watcher opined that Famous was hurt more by the shift due to its heavier concentration of stores in outlet centers which rely more on holiday traffic to drive business.

Retail sales at Famous Footwear rose 0.2% to $85.1 million in May, compared to $84.9 million for the same period last year, with a net decline of 11 stores since the end of May last year.

DSW Shoe Warehouse apparently saw little or no impact from the holiday shift, posting a 7.8% comp store gain for May on top of a 4.5% increase for the same period last year. YTD comps are now up 9.8% versus a 1.5% decline in the same YTD period in 2003.

The fast-growing division of Retail Ventures, Inc., parent of the Value City and Filene’s Basement discount chains, now makes up more than 36% of sales for the total company versus just under 32% in the year-ago YTD period. That share jumped to almost 39% of total RVI sales in May as DSW posted a 23.9% increase in sales to $85.7 million from $69.1 million, or 34% of total RVI sales, in the year-ago month.

In other economic news, it looks like we could be headed for higher interest rates soon after the U.S. Labor Department announced a quickly improving jobs picture for the country. The May job report released Friday showed that U.S. employers added an larger-than-expected 248,000 jobs in May, exceeding Wall Street expectations for 216,000 new jobs.

The brighter news for May, coupled with an upwardly revised total of 346,000 new jobs in April and 353,000 in March, gave the three month period a total of 947,000 new jobs created making it the strongest three-month stretch in four years.

More jobs, plus the prospect of lower gas prices, coupled with a better feeling about the progress in the Iraq war, could lead the American consumer to keep the momentum at retail moving along. Greenspan will just need to cooperate and not boost rates too fast and stymie the growth.

The ICSC report is estimating a 6.0% same-store sales increase for June. The shift of the Memorial Day weekend should help that number. The shift may be offset by the shift of the Fourth of July weekend into July this year as well, but all should even out by quarter-end when all three months are taken as a whole.