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Strong Finish in December Lifts Holiday Retail Sales
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Year-over-year comparable-store sales jumped 2.4 percent last month at luxury retailer Saks Inc. after a disappointing November, and same-stores sales increased 8.6 percent at Neiman Marcus Group Inc.
Hoffman called the results a "radical difference" from where department stores had been in previous months and said the gains may have been a one-time gift from shoppers. Specialty apparel stores performed weaker than expected, she said, giving department stores a chance to lure in more customers.
"I'm not convinced that they've in fact gotten to the root cause of all the challenges," she said.
Department stores have been struggling, squeezed by discounters and high-end retailers. Sears Holdings Corp. stood out this holiday season for its glum year-over-year comparable-sales results: an 11.9 percent decline at Sears stores and a sluggish 1 percent increase at Kmart.
Two of the brightest spots were online shopping and specialty teen retailers. Nontravel spending online reached $19.6 billion during the holidays, a 25 percent jump over the 2004 season, according to ComScore Networks, a market-research firm. Amazon.com said it posted record sales this season and expects sales to have grown 24 percent during November and December.
Leading the way among teen retailers was Abercrombie & Fitch Co., which reported that December comparable-store sales skyrocketed 29 percent over December 2004. Aeropostale Inc.'s sales jumped 11.4 percent, and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. rose 9.8 percent. And the Wet Seal Inc. reported sales growth of 38.5 percent last month, compared to a drop of 11.8 percent in December 2004 sales.
C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America's Research Group Ltd., a consumer-behavior research firm, said success illustrated the importance of relevance to younger consumers -- a problem with which Wal-Mart and many department stores continue to grapple.
"You're either on-trend or you're dead," he said.
