The nation`s major retailers on Wednesday reported generally weak sales for February, the first month of their fiscal year.
With many retailers also reporting disappointing fourth-quarter results, some Wall Street analysts reduced 1985 earnings estimates for such previously stellar performers as Dayton Hudson Corp. and Associated Dry Goods Corp.
”With the exception of one or two (retailers), sales were soft,” said Jeffrey Edelman, an analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. ”They`ve pretty much maintained the lackluster trend we`ve seen in the previous months. It mirrors the sluggishness we`ve seen in the economy.”
February spending was kept down by high levels of installment debt, according to a report by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. The high debt levels, which affect lower and middle-income families most, are preventing consumers from buying big-ticket goods.
But the Merrill Lynch report cautioned against making ”too much” of February, which it called ”a very small month.” Although the comparisons will be against strong performances last year, Merrill Lynch said it expects a good Easter selling season and healthy profits in the fiscal first quarter.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., the nation`s largest retailer, reported a 2 percent drop in its sales for the four weeks ended March 1, to $1.76 billion from $1.8 billion in the year-earlier period. However, Chairman Edward A. Brennan noted that sales strengthened toward the end of the month.
K mart Corp., the second-largest retailer, said its February sales rose 1.4 percent, to $1.32 billion from $1.30 billion a year earlier. Cautious consumers and unfavorable weather were responsible for the weak performance, said Chairman Bernard M. Fauber.
Third-ranked J.C. Penney Co. posted a 7.4 percent gain over its year-earlier performance, tallying sales of $741 million, up from $690 million.
William Howell, chairman of New York-based Penney`s, said the sales momentum increased as the month progressed, with the strongest perfomance in the East.
New York-based F.W. Woolworth Co., the country`s fourth-largest retailer, posted sales of $371 million, a 8.9 percent increase over $341 million in February, 1985. Domestic sales rose 4.8 percent while foreign sales increased 16.3 percent (in U.S. dollars).
Federated Department Stores Inc., the No. 5 retailer and the nation`s largest department and specialty store chain, said its February sales increased 5.1 percent, to $657.2 million from $625.3 million.
Cincinnati-based Federated`s latest figures exclude results of the Boston Store division, which was sold last March, and the Gold Circle division in Pittsburgh, which has been closed.
