- Title: Macy's, Kohl's, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney results deepen retail jitters
- Date: 13th May 2016
- Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 13, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MATTHEW WARD, HEAD OF U.S. LARGE CAP EQUITIES AT SCHRODER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT N.A., SAYING: "It goes back to retail and apparel. Some of the stores disrupted by discounters, disrupted by Amazon, disrupted by fast fashion and you see that in what's happening with department store stocks. Some going down as much as 15 percent today. I just think you get good news, retail, it looks like a retail surprise in the headline number, and yet, here are the apparel guys, and it adds to the confusion in the market." WIDE OF STREET WITH MACY'S STORE MACY'S SIGN VARIOUS OF J.C. PENNEY SIGNS VARIOUS OF NORDSTROM RACK SIGNS
- Embargoed: 28th May 2016 19:33
- Keywords: Macy's J. C. Penney Kohl's Nordstrom Amazon clothing apparel
- Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK + LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS + LOS ANGELES + ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA + BROOMFIELD, COLORADO, UNITED STATES / INTERNET / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK + LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS + LOS ANGELES + ENCINITAS, CALIFORNIA + BROOMFIELD, COLORADO, UNITED STATES / INTERNET / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION
- Country: USA
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0034HN7GY5
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Macy's, J.C. Penney, Nordstrom and Kohl's have recently reported a drop in total sales in a quarter marked by weak demand for apparel in their brick and mortar stores, which are increasingly coming under pressure from online retailers like Amazon.com.
Millennials in New York City weighed in on buying clothes online versus in stores on Friday (May 13).
"It's just handier, really. Cheaper as well, there's better deals there. The one problem with it would be you can't try it on and it's hard to return, but it's cheaper," Jamie Donohoe said.
"It's just way easier to shop online. You just click, order, it comes to your house, you get one day shipping," Joni Nano said.
"The style is better and the prices are better and the clothing looks better. I think Macy's is more of an older kind of thing. The other stores, they appeal to younger people. They're more in style, more in fashion," said Maishaa Rach, a shopper who says she buys clothing both online and at Victoria's Secret, Zara, H&M and Urban Outfitters.
Shoppers are increasingly spending more on purchases such as electronics, homes, travel and cars than on apparel, a major source of revenue for department stores.
U.S. retail sales in April recorded their biggest increase in a year as Americans stepped up purchases of automobiles and a range of other goods, the Commerce Department reported on Friday.
"Clothing in general has had a hard time of it in the first quarter and at the end of last year," Chris Christopher said, director of consumer economics at IHS Global Insight.
"Basically what was happening there was unseasonably warmer winter weather hit the clothing sales across the board. However, in this report, this retail sales report for April, clothing stores came back with a vengeance but department stores didn't get much of a pick up there, a little bit of a pick up, so what you're seeing is when people want to buy their clothing, a lot of times they buy it online or they go to a specialty clothing store or a family clothing store," he continued.
Despite the hard times felt at Macy's, J.C. Penney, Kohl's and Nordstrom, sales at clothing stores in general surged 1.0 percent, the biggest increase since May 2015, the data showed.
"Some of the stores disrupted by discounters, disrupted by Amazon, disrupted by fast fashion and you see that in what's happening with department store stocks," Matthew Ward said, head of U.S. large cap equities at Schroder Investment Management N.A.
"Some going down as much as 15 percent today. I just think you get good news, retail, it looks like a retail surprise in the headline number, and yet, here are the apparel guys, and it adds to the confusion in the market," he said.
The 0.4 percent fall in sales at J.C. Penney stores open at least a year came as a shock. Still, J.C. Penney outperformed Macy's, Kohl's and Nordstrom on that measure. Same-store sales at Macy's, the biggest U.S. department store operator, fell 5.6 percent while those at Kohl's dropped 3.9 percent and Nordstrom's slipped 1.7 percent. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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