October same-store sales a bad sign for the holidays

Posted Nov 8th 2007 11:35AM by Beth Gaston Moon
Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Wal-Mart (WMT), Target Corp. (TGT), Costco Wholesale (COST), Gap Inc (GPS), Limited Brands (LTD)

It's super Thursday, when same-store sales from many of the nation's retailers hit the Street, and the outlook for the holiday-shopping season is looking less than cheerful.

Weakness in the housing sector, high prices at the pumps, and unseasonably warm weather kept consumers' wallets on a tight leash in October. Early estimates from the International Council of Shopping Centers/UBS indicate that overall U.S. same-store sales in October rose about 2%, missing analysts' previous growth target of 2.5%. Data from Thomson Financial indicates that 18 retailers have missed expectations, while 10 have exceeded.

Ken Perkins, president of research company RetailMetrics, told The New York Times that "Overall, the sales trend continues to slow . . . I think the consumer is certainly feeling the [economic] pressure heading into the holidays."

Here are the monthly sales results from some of the high-profile retailing names:

Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE: WMT): Same-store sales rose 0.4%, below the 1.1% expected by analysts.
Target (NYSE: TGT): Same-store sales jumped 4.1%, exceeding Street expectations for a 2.5% gain.
Macy's (NYSE: M): Posted a same-store sales decline of 1.5%, wider than the 0.6% decline expected by analysts.
Limited Brands (NYSE: LTD): Same-store sales fell 6.0% in October, below the 1.6% decline targeted by analysts.
Gap (NYSE: GPS): Same-store sales in October dropped 8.0%, wider than the Street's estimated decline of 4.7%.
Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST): Same-store sales jumped 9%, exceeding analysts' expected gain of 5.7%.