October sales a mixed bag for apparel chains
New York City U.S. apparel retailers reported October sales that rebounded from the lows of a year ago, but many failed to surpass Wall Street's boosted expectations as consumers continue to spend selectively as the holiday season approaches.
Among the winners were Gap, whose same-store sales in October rose 4%, a bigger increase than analysts predicted, helped by strong results at its Old Navy chain. By division, sales fell 6% at Gap stores, rose 5% at Banana Republic and jumped 14% at Old Navy.
Urban Outfitters also exceeded analysts estimates. Its same-store sales rose 2%, with total sales up 6% to $506 million. Analysts had expected a 3.7% drop in quarterly same-store sales.
Aeropostale, one of the industry’s strongest performers during the downturn, said its October same-store sales increased 3%. Analysts had expected same-store sales to rise 13.8%, according to Thomson Reuters.
Abercrombie & Fitch Co. and American Eagle Outfitters, both of which have struggled throughout the downturn, continued to post disappointing sales as the boost from back-to-school shopping faded. American Eagle’s sales were down 5%.
Abercrombie said its same-store sales dropped 14.7%. By division, sales at Abercrombie & Fitch stores fell 8% last month, beating analysts' expectation for a decline of 10.1%. At the children's chain abercrombie, sales declined 17%, worse than the Street expected, and at Hollister Co., sales slid 21%, worse than estimates of 17.2%.
Other October same-store sales results include:
- Stage Stores said its sales fell 0.1%. Analysts, on average had expected same-store sales to fall 4.4%;
- Limited Brands’ sales fell 4%, while Wall Street expected a decline of 2.7%;
- Buckle's sales rose 4.3%, missing expectations for an increase of 5.3%;
- The Wet Seal’s sales fell 1.3%, a much smaller drop than analysts predicted;
- Destination Maternity Corp.’s sales decreased 5.2%; and
- Children’s Place saw its sales fall 2%, which was not as bad as analysts had expected.