Strong Showing for Retail Stores in September

A number of department stores posted strong gains for the month of September, outperforming other retails segments.

For example, Neiman Marcus reported that its same store sales rose 4.7 percent during the month against the same period last year. Jewelry, women’s shoes, handbags and men’s clothing saw big sales gains. Stores in California, Texas, the south-east and New York were the top performing for the period.

Saks reported a 6.5 per cent increase in same store sales, highlighting strength in a similarly broad range of categories. Nordstrom said its same store sales rose 7.5 percent and that transactions at its main stores had increased for the 13th month in a row.

Mid-market retailers also did well for the month. Macy’s same store sale rose 4.8 percent, JC Penney was up 5.1 percent and Kohl’s increased 3 percent in September.

Teen and youth retailers also delivered a generally strong month, with same store sales at Abercrombie & Fitch up 13 percent.