Today is the day the nation's publicly held retail chains begin reporting sales results for the 2006 holiday season. While January's gift card redemptions prove an important component when assessing holiday sales results, December’s numbers usually are thought of as the best indicator of holiday success.
Comparing holiday numbers is difficult since some retailers report on the exact calendar month, others use a five-week reporting period, and still others report results from both November and December. All the numbers listed below are for same-store sales.
Holiday 2006 Sales Results
Ann Taylor Stores—down 5.3%
American Eagle Outfitters—up 13%
Chico's FAS—down 2%
Costco—up 9%
Dillard’s Dept. Stores—down 5%
Federated Dept. Stores—up 4.4%
Gap—down 8%
J.C. Penney—up 2.6%
Kohl’s—up 3.2%
Limited Brands—up 4%
Nordstrom—up 9%
Pacific Sunwear—down 3.2%
Saks Fifth Avenue—up 11%
Target—up 4.1%
Walgreens—up 7.9%
Wal-Mart—up 1.6%
Holiday sales were the icing on the cake for such retailers as Costco and Nordstrom topping off an already very good year. While the financial community was disappointed that numbers from Federated Department Stores were well below expectations, I believe there is a more ominous factor not being reported. Federated's same-store sales report includes only the Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores that existed before the May Department Store takeover. It would be interesting to know how the converted stores fared.
With the holiday shopping season beginning earlier each year and the season not really ending until January numbers are in, it is increasingly complex to track sales results for the season. It is also impossible to get a truly accurate picture without adding Internet sales to the mix.
Recent media headlines proclaim, "Warm weather hits December retail sales" and "Retailers Post Disappointing Sales for December," but the whole story can't be told without January sales, Internet sales, and even November sales all totaled and analyzed. Holiday 2006 may turn out to be just as disappointing as the media reports. Or, although not a blockbuster, it may turn out that sales for the holiday season were up a respectable amount as some retail observers predicted.