November sales sluggish as retailers miss expectations; apparel hit hard

New York City Black Friday weekend failed to give retailers the big boost they had hoped as many chains reported weak results in November. As of Thursday morning, Thomson Reuters, which tracks monthly same-store sales for 30 chains such as Target, Gap and J.C. Penney, said 15 of the retailers in its Same Store Sales Index have reported their results. Of those 15, 85% missed analysts' sales estimates while 15% beat expectations.

The much softer-than-expected early numbers prompted Thomson Reuters retail analyst Jharonne Martis to say that November's performance will most likely be worse than expected.

Apparel retailers were hit especially hard as consumers continue to hold back on discretionary spending. Among the bright spots was Limited Brands, whose same-store sales rose 3% in the month ended Nov. 28, beating the 2.5% estimated decline in an analyst survey by Thomson Reuters. Victoria's Secret stores posted a 3% gain, compared with analysts' estimate of a 5.3% drop. Total sales climbed to $781.1 million from $755.6 million.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. said Thursday that sales in its stores that have been open at least a year fell 17% in November, worse than analysts predicted.

In other apparel specialty same-store sales results for November:

• Gap said its same-store sales remained flat in November, helped by a strong performance from its Old Navy stores. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted an increase of 0.1%.

Gap said its Old Navy North America same-store sales climbed 6%, while Gap North America and Banana Republic North America both fell 4%. Same-store sales at international stores declined 5% for the four weeks ended Nov. 28. Analysts expected a decline of 3.8%. Total monthly sales edged up 2% to $1.42 billion.

• At The Buckle, same-store sales increased 1.4%, less than analysts expected.

• American Eagle’s same-store sales fell 2%, in line with expectations.

• Children's Place Retail Stores’ same-store sales slid 13% in November, falling well below Wall Street's expectations.

• Wet Seal saw its dip 5% in November, hurt by soft results at its namesake stores. But the performance beat the estimates of analysts.

• Destination Maternity Corp. said unfavorable weather, a difficult comparison and the ongoing struggles of the retail sector during the recession contributed to an 11.6% drop in its same-store sales. Its results were in line with expectations.