Feb 15, 2011
Winter’s Gloom Didn’t Keep Shoppers From Spending In JanuaryBy Mercedes CardonaDailyFinance.com

Pent-up demand among shoppers and savvy merchandising by retailers beat bad weather as merchants closed out the holiday season and their fiscal year.

The Commerce Department’s retail and food services sales tally for January rose to $381.6 billion, up 7.8% from January 2010 and up 0.3% from December. Excluding auto sales, totals were up 5.4% from the year-ago month, and retail sales were 7.7% higher. The Commerce tally is the most complete picture of retail because it includes gasoline, food and auto sales, as well as the results of Walmart Stores (WMT), the world’s largest retailer, which doesn’t publicly report monthly sales.

The numbers show retailers were careful in stocking up for the holiday, managing inventories and promotions more sharply then ever — a skill honed during the recession. And consumers have begun to respond, say experts.

“They’re shopping, and retailers did a little better job of inventory so they didn’t have to give anything away this January,” says Alison Paul, vice chairman and U.S. retail leader at Deloitte. Shoppers let out some pent-up demand over the holidays, picking up both gifts and things for themselves. “The old ‘one for you, and one for me’ shopping,” Paul calls it.

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