Strong Holiday Sales Bolster Retail Chains -- WSJ
March 02 2018 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Khadeeja Safdar and Suzanne Kapner
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (March 2, 2018).
Shoppers opened their wallets for electronics, beauty products
and clothes during the holiday season, as strong consumer spending
gave a boost to several brick-and-mortar retailers.
Same-store sales at Best Buy Co. surged 9% in the holiday
quarter, as the electronics retailer benefited from higher
videogame demand and store closures at some of its competitors.
Other chains, including Kohl's Corp., Macy's Inc., Gap Inc. and
Nordstrom Inc., posted sales gains as well.
"The consumer is in a much better mind-set," said Best Buy Chief
Executive Hubert Joly on a media call Thursday. "The better macro
conditions were helpful to all the retailers for sure."
Kohl's said comparable-store sales rose 6.3%, its largest sales
increase since 2001. Gap reported a 5% gain, its fifth consecutive
quarter of positive comparable-sales growth. And Nordstrom reported
a same-store sales increase of 2.6%. Both its full-line department
stores and discount Rack stores posted same-store sales gains.
Kohl's CEO Kevin Mansell said the sales gains were driven by
improvements in customer traffic. Mr. Mansell said that all product
categories and geographical regions had positive sales in the
period. Even though sales slowed in January, he said the company
"entered 2018 with a lot of momentum on the top line."
Shares in Best Buy rose 4% as U.S. stocks overall sank broadly.
Kohl's shares fell 5.1%. Shares of Gap were up 8.8% in after-hours
trading.
Analysts and economists have said that low unemployment and
rising wages gave consumers the confidence to spend this holiday
season. "Everybody in retail right now is benefiting from strong
consumer confidence," Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said in an interview
earlier this week.
Earlier in the year, Target Corp. said sales were strong in
November and December. The company is expected to report quarterly
results next week.
The latest results come as retailers contend with the rise of
online shopping and the fallout from years of overbuilding. More
than 6,000 store closures were announced last year, and at least 50
retailers filed for bankruptcy, including Gymboree Corp., Payless
ShoeSource Inc. and Toys 'R' Us Inc.
Best Buy said this week that it will close all of its 250 U.S.
mobile-phone stores by the end of May in response to a more mature
smartphone market.
The electronics retailer has largely avoided mass store closures
by ramping up its e-commerce efforts, promising to match the prices
of online rivals, and offering technical-support services. Mr. Joly
said those efforts helped boost results. In the fourth quarter,
Best Buy's domestic online sales jumped 18% on a comparable basis.
The company also topped sales and profit expectations for the
quarter.Mr. Joly said there was better product availability during
the holiday season after shortages and recalls from manufacturers
hurt results the previous year.
At Gap, the results were largely driven by a 9% increase at its
budget brand Old Navy. The parent company has been shifting its
footprint accordingly. It said it expects to close about 200 Banana
Republic and Gap stores by the end of 2018, while opening new Old
Navy and Athleta locations over time.
While Kohl's hasn't announced mass store closures, it is
shrinking its square footage. Mr. Mansell said the company will
lease space to discount grocer Aldi in as many as 10 stores.
Kohl's said partnerships with Under Armour Inc. and Amazon.com
Inc. helped boost sales during the latest quarter. Mr. Mansell said
Kohl's had begun discussions with Amazon to expand their pact,
which includes having Amazon shops in Kohl's stores and allowing
customers to return items they purchased at the online retailer at
a handful of its locations.
Not all retailers fared better. On Wednesday, L Brands Inc.,
which owns Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, said
comparable sales rose 2% in the fourth quarter, but the retailer
gave a downbeat earnings outlook for its current fiscal year.
L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner has been trying to fix weakness in
the bra business by changing product lines and sprucing up stores.
Unlike other mall chains, his retailers have been expanding their
store footprints. Shares fell 14%.
Last month, Walmart Inc. said it stumbled in the fourth quarter
after misjudging its online inventory for the holiday season.
--Imani Moise contributed to this article.
Write to Khadeeja Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com and Suzanne
Kapner at Suzanne.Kapner@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 02, 2018 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
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