Retailers report weak sales gains for November

Black Friday was apparently no match for Superstorm Sandy. Major retailers from Target to Macy’s are today reporting weak November sales, as the strong start to the holiday shopping season—including a good showing on the day after Thanksgiving—wasn’t enough to fully offset the damage caused by Sandy earlier in the month. The storm stunted enthusiasm among shoppers in the Northeast during the first couple of weeks of November just as stores were preparing for the busiest shopping period of the year: a roughly two-month stretch at year’s end when they can make up to 40% of their annual revenue. “It really took away the punchbowl for retailers and put them behind the eight ball heading into the crucial weekend,” says Ken Perkins, president of research firm RetailMetrics. Eighteen retailers today reported that November sales at stores open at least a year—an indicator of a retailer’s health—through last Saturday were up 1.7% compared with the year-ago period, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Nonetheless, that’s well below the group’s anticipated forecast for a 4.5% to 5.5% gain. However, today’s reports are just a peek at how the retail industry is doing. Only a small group of stores representing about 13% of the $2.4 trillion U.S. retail industry report monthly revenue—and the list excludes big merchants such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer. But the data offers a snapshot of consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of all economic activity. More details can be found in the full story here.