September sales at U.S. retailers were mostly solid, as they included some back-to-school shopping ahead of the holiday season.
Sales at stores open at least a year at 17 chains tracked by Thomson Reuters rose 3.6 percent, matching analysts’ expectations. In September 2011, such sales rose 6.4 percent.
Costco Wholesale Corp., Gap Inc., Target Corp. and Macy’s posted same-store sales increases.
However, Menomonee Falls-based Kohl’s Corp. reported today that its September comparable store sales decreased 2.7 percent compared with September of 2011.
The Bon-Ton Stores Inc., which operates headquarters in Milwaukee and York, Pa., today announced a 0.6 percent increase in comparable store sales compared with September of 2011.
Bon-Ton is the owner and operator of the Boston Store department store chain.
“We gained momentum the final two weeks in the month and finished strong. We largely attribute our performance to a better balanced merchandise assortment and refined marketing efforts,” said Bon-Ton president and chief executive officer Brendan Hoffman. “Our multi-channel methods of communicating with our customers created excitement and traffic. In addition, our customers continued to respond favorably to the new fall receipts. The best performing categories were fine jewelry, better sportswear, dresses, shoes, men’s sportswear and ladies’ large sizes. Our eCommerce business delivered a strong double-digit sales gain. Our inventory management efforts have us well-positioned to take advantage of sales opportunities in season.”
