Retailers Post Strong March Sales Early Easter Holiday Helps To Stimulate Shopping

U.S. retailers reported robust increases in same-store sales in March as an earlier Easter holiday spurred sales of clothing and other goods.

Demand for spring fashions gave Limited Inc. and Gap Inc., the two biggest U.S. clothing chains, their best sales gains in two years. And apparel-oriented department stores - including Dillard Department Stores Inc., Federated Department Stores Inc. and May Department Stores Inc. - showed hardy increases as shoppers finally began to replace their old clothes.

“Our wardrobes have been aging for four years,” said Donald Ratajczak, director of economic forecasting at Georgia State University. “Retail is improving. It’s not a groundswell but there is surfacing strength.”

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 5.27 percent in March, according to the Bloomberg Composite Same-Store Sales Index. That’s the second-biggest gain since last April, behind last month’s 5.28 percent rise.

Sales are typically strong before Easter because the holiday coincides with the start of warm weather, which drives sales of spring apparel and outdoor goods such as lawn and garden supplies. With Easter coming a week earlier this year, those sales shifted into March from April.

And April’s sales could be robust even with the Easter shift, analysts said, if apparel sales remain healthy and shoppers continue to spend. Consumer spending rose 1.1 percent in February, the largest increase in two years, the government said last week.

“The key is to watch what happens in April and see if retailers can hold the gains,” said Peter Schaeffer, an analyst at Dillon Read & Co., adding that about 90 percent of March’s sales increases were related to the earlier holiday.

Still, some chains had weak sales in March. Department store chain J.C. Penney Co.’s sales fell 1 percent, while sales sank at apparel chains Talbot’s Inc. and Charming Shoppes Inc.

Combining March and April’s results will give the best gauge on sales strength, analysts said. Same-store sales are considered the best measure of a retailer’s sales strength because they don’t include the effects of store openings and closings.

The results boosted shares of apparel-oriented chains. Department store chains also reported strong gains in March, paced by clothing sales.

Federated, which operates Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and the Bon Marche, said sales climbed 6.1 percent.

Dayton Hudson Corp., which operates Marshall Field’s and Dayton’s, said same-store sales rose 8.7 percent, helped by the earlier Easter. May’s sales gained 9 percent, Dillard rose 10 percent and Sears, Roebuck & Co. climbed 6.8 percent.

“The week prior to Easter had exceptionally strong sales,” said Sears Chairman Arthur Martinez.