For Retailers, Holiday Season Has No Place To Go But Up
Retailers won’t uncork much champagne this holiday season, as worries over jobs and the economy likely will take a lot of the cheer out of gift buying.
But at least things won’t be as gloomy as they were a year ago, when leading U.S. retailers suffered their worst Christmas since at least 1970.
Business has already picked up heading into the holiday season. Last month, same-store sales at leading U.S. retail chains rose 1.1% vs. the prior year, says Ken Perkins president of Retail Metrics. It was the first monthly gain since August 2008.
It also looks like leading retailers’ earnings will grow this quarter after nine straight quarters of declines, Perkins says. He estimates that chains are set to see Q3 earnings grow 23.6% vs. 2008. Last year, Q4 earnings sank 26.6%.
Meanwhile, analysts expect retailers’ Q4 same-store sales to rise 0.7%, says Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Thomson Reuters.
