Same Store

Shares of Landover-based Hechinger Co. fell 11.3 percent yesterday after the retailer said sales at stores open more than a year fell 2 percent last month.In all, sales at the company were up 20 percent to $251 million, with the company's Home Quarters Warehouse providing a 46 percent increase in total sales. The Hechinger stores saw a 2 percent decline in overall sales among old and new outlets.Hechinger said same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least one year, for Hechinger Stores fell 3 percent, while sales at same-store Home Quarters were flat.

Macy's Inc., the second-largest U.S. department store company, is an "attractive" target for a leveraged buyout and may fetch $50 to $52 a share, a Goldman, Sachs & Co. analyst said yesterday. Macy's cash flow and "valuable" real estate, as well as the company's potential to cut costs and take on additional debt make it a possible takeover candidate, New York-based Adrianne Shapira wrote in a note to investors. Macy's converted more than 400 former May Department Store Co. locations to its namesake chain in September, about a year after buying the rival for $11 billion.

Merry-Go-Round Enterprises, Inc., based in Joppatowne, announced itsregular quarterly cash dividend of $.0133 per share on its common stock. The dividend is payable Friday, Nov. 29, to shareholders of record as of Friday, Nov. 15.The company also announced sales for thefour-week period ending Nov. 2 increased 30 percent, to $56.4 million, from $43.3 million in the corresponding period in October 1990. Same-store sales for October 1991 increased about 9 percent.Sales for the 13-week period ending Nov. 2, 1991 increased 22 percent, to $197.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. ended one of its toughest years in more than a decade yesterday with a better-than-expected profit for the holiday quarter and a fairly upbeat forecast for this year. Even so, it finished the year with only a slight gain at stores open at least a year, 2.1 percent. That key measure of retail performance was the company's slowest since it began recording same-store sales increases in 1980. Investors, however, were buoyed by the news. "I would not be surprised if they're at a low point," said Victor Hawley, portfolio manager at Reed, Conner & Birdwell of Los Angeles, which holds about 850,000 shares in Wal-Mart worth about $42 million.

Sales in established Hechinger Co. stores barely budged in July, a lackluster showing that reflects continued tough competition in the home-center business and the fact that some of Hechinger's best stores are too new to show up in some corporate indicators.Revenue in Hechinger stores open for at least a year increased by 1 percent last month, less than the gains reported by other major retailers. But overall sales at the Landover-based company rose by 18 percent to $195.1 million for the month, propelled by its fast-growing Home Quarters Warehouse division.

Consumers showed they were in the mood to spend money on clothes last month, but were unwilling to sink themselves further into debt to buy durable goods, such as major appliances and electronics.Retail sales were mixed in November, with apparel stores showing increased sales over November 1995, but electronics stores such as Circuit City and Best Buy reporting declines."Santa's sleigh will be filled with apparel," said Kenneth Gassman, a retail analyst with Davenport & Co. in Richmond, Va.The apparel industry had been knocked badly in the past two years by a lack of interest in clothing.

Consumers went shopping at specialty stores and discounters in October, handing a blow to department store chains that have been losing customers.Reports on October sales from the nation's biggest retailers yesterday showed mixed results, amid concerns over Wall Street volatility and signs of an economic slowdown."

In yet another sign of the continuing deterioration at Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc., the Joppa-based fashion retailer yesterday reported a double-digit drop in sales in June.For the four weeks ended July 1, the company registered $49 million in sales, down $15 million, or 23 percent, over the same period last year. Sales at stores open at least a year fell 15 percent.Company officials declined to comment, but analysts were not shy about what the numbers meant."They're terrible -- I mean, 'terrible' is probably a charitable word," said Kurt Barnard, president and publisher of Barnard's Retail Marketing Report, a forecasting newsletter in New Jersey.

Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc.'s second-quarter performance furthered the earnings slide which has plagued the retailer throughout the year, but the company is hoping that planned merchandise shifts and a new marketing campaign will boost sales in the second half of 1994.The Joppa-based clothier reported a net loss of $37.9 million, or 70 cents a share, on sales of $176 million in the second quarter ended July 30. The sales figure represents an 18 percent decline from the comparable period last year, when sales topped $214 million and the net loss amounted to $2.5 million.

NEW YORK -- Sales petered out during Christmas week, dashing retailers' hopes of a last-minute rush to salvage what's become a disappointing holiday season, two reports yesterday showed.The pair of weekly surveys of large chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. turned up lower-than-expected sales last week. Bank of Tokyo- Mitsubishi/Schroder Wertheim said sales rose 1 percent while LJR Redbook Research reported a 0.6 percent gain.Slow sales during what's usually the busiest week of the shopping season mean that many retailers won't do as well as they hoped.

The day after Thanksgiving is a special time for Michelle Robinson. Growing up in Atlanta, she and her mother would head to Macy's downtown to browse, shop and eat at the department store's cellar-level market. So, she and her sister-in-law, Jessica Robinson, arrived early yesterday at the Macy's in Towson Town Center expecting to snag some great deals. Though fans of department stores, the women left disappointed. "Macy's is known for great sales," said Michelle Robinson, 36, of Westminster, who managed to pick up a jacket for her husband but nothing else.

ST. LOUIS - May Department Stores Co., which is being acquired by Federated Department Stores Inc., said yesterday that its first-quarter profit fell 46 percent, hurt by rising costs and markdowns on slower-selling apparel. Net income declined to $41 million, or 13 cents a share, from $76 million, or 24 cents, a year earlier, May said. Sales in the quarter ended April 30 climbed 13.7 percent to $3.37 billion, helped by its July purchase of the Marshall Field's chain. Payroll and advertising costs rose faster than sales at May, which also owns Kaufmann's, Hecht's and Lord & Taylor.

Todd Jones, The bargain hunters who stormed stores the day after Thanksgiving for crack-of-dawn deals didn't stay long, and they practically abandoned many retailers for the rest of the holiday weekend. The result was lackluster November sales that fell below expectations and are a potential blow for retailers counting on a robust holiday season to boost the bottom line. Gap Inc., Limited Brands Inc., Federated Department Stores and even the mighty Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported disappointing November numbers yesterday.

OAK BROOK, Ill. - McDonald's Corp., the world's largest hamburger chain, announced yesterday that first-quarter profit increased as sales rose at the fastest pace in more than a year, helped by the strengthening of the euro. The company's shares rose $1.12, or 7 percent, to a three-month high of $16.93 as McDonald's rebounded from its first-ever loss in the fourth quarter of last year. McDonald's said it's "on its way" toward meeting Chief Executive Officer James R. "Jim" Cantalupo's 2005 goal of boosting restaurant sales by as much as 5 percent a year.

Sales at the nation's leading stores proved disappointing in March for discount outlets as well as more upscale chains, as shoppers worried about the war and the weakened economy continued putting a crimp in consumer spending. Retailers also blamed lower sales on cool spring weather in much of the nation, which hurt apparel sales, and on a shift in the Easter holiday, which came in March last year and falls in April this year, and which typically helps boost buying. Retail sales dipped an average 0.2 percent, according to the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, which tracks sales at stores open at least a year for 79 chain retailers.

Retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. said yesterday that same-store sales rose 2.4 percent in March, one sign that first-quarter profit will likely be up over last year's. The Hampstead-based men's apparel chain said sales rose 12.2 percent, to $23.9 million, in the fiscal month that ended April 5, compared with $21.3 million in March 2002. Combined catalog and Internet sales rose 3.7 percent in March, the company said. "Despite a difficult economy and consumer anxieties regarding the war in Iraq, we continue to have sales increases that are among the best in the industry," said Robert N. Wildrick, Bank's chief executive officer.

Rising gas prices, higher borrowing costs and heavier debt loads put a crimp in spending at the nation's stores in June, leaving retailers with disappointing sales for the month. Even though chain store sales rose an average 3.4 percent last month compared with June 1999, the gain lagged behind the 5 percent average gain posted monthly for the first half of the year, according to the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's tally of 76 large retailers. "Retail sales in June suffered from a combination of forces, including sticker shock at the gas pump," especially in the Midwest, said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report.

Sales at the nation's leading stores proved disappointing in March for discount outlets as well as more upscale chains, as shoppers worried about the war and the weakened economy continued putting a crimp in consumer spending. Retailers also blamed lower sales on cool spring weather in much of the nation, which hurt apparel sales, and on a shift in the Easter holiday, which came in March last year and falls in April this year, and which typically helps boost buying. Retail sales dipped an average 0.2 percent, according to the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, which tracks sales at stores open at least a year for 79 chain retailers.

The severe snowstorm over Presidents Day weekend kept shoppers away from Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc.'s stores, crimping February sales at stores open at least a year, the Hampstead-based men's apparel retailer said yesterday. The company said that same-store sales - a key benchmark for retailers - decreased 1.9 percent last month. But total sales for the retailer, which sells suits, casual clothing, sportswear, footwear and accessories, rose 7 percent, from $14.4 million to $15.4 million, as Bank gained additional sales from newly opened stores.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Internet commerce as a proportion of total retail sales rose in the final three months of 2002 as consumers took advantage of free shipping and discounts to buy holiday merchandise. Online retail purchases totaled $14.3 billion, or 1.6 percent of all sales, during October-December, the Commerce Department said. That was up from 1.3 percent in the third quarter and represents the largest share of all sales since the survey began in 1999. Free shipping, discounting and ease of ordering online appealed to consumers, whose total spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, economists said.