NEW YORK, United States — Establish it a Christmas miracle. Macy’s Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. — two troubled department-store chains which have been emblems of the so-called retail apocalypse — rang up healthful product gross sales outcomes this journey season.
Macy’s stated Thursday that its comparable product gross sales for November and December had been up 1 p.c over a 12 months earlier, a welcome turnabout for a corporation that has posted 11 consecutive quarters of declines on this measure.
J.C. Penney, throughout the meantime, reported a 3.4 p.c comparable product gross sales improve over remaining 12 months for the nine-week interval that ended December 30.
The advance gave the look to be broad-based all via completely different departments, an excellent signal for each retailers. Macy’s stated extreme performers included energetic attire, footwear, and coats, whereas J.C. Penney generally known as out vitality in its house, magnificence and top of the range jewellery programs.
The department-store sector has been probably the gloomiest nook of the retail commerce as of late, so kudos to those chains for exhibiting they’ve nonetheless bought some battle in them.
That stated, I get why retailers aren’t sending every inventory hovering on these outcomes. And that’s due to I think about the expansion wouldn’t precisely replicate present strategic genius on the a part of every company.
Product gross sales figures are nonetheless being tallied and printed, nonetheless we’ve acquired gotten indicators the retail commerce complete most actually had its greatest Christmas season in a very very very long time, attributable to upbeat shoppers. A rising tide seemingly lifted all boats, together with these of Macy’s and J.C. Penney.
These retailers might want to present they could ship progress constantly throughout the event that they wish to persuade retailers they don’t look like merely drafting off wider commerce vitality.
Moreover it’s price noting that neither chain indicated Thursday it’s planning any new retailer closings. (Macy’s stated it could shut 11 retailers, nonetheless these had been a part of a plan it launched bigger than a 12 months beforehand to close 100 places.) January is generally when retailers announce fleet-prunings for the 12 months forward. For now, it appears, neither chain has such plans for 2018.
As I’ve beforehand well-known, Macy’s has accurately been further proactive than its rivals about trimming its brick-and-mortar footprint.
Nonetheless it could nevertheless want to chop deeper. J.C. Penney, throughout the meantime, is reinforcing the notion it nonetheless hasn’t come to grips with how out-of-sync its monumental retailer portfolio is with the digital interval.
By Sarah Halzack; Editor: Mark Gongloff.
