A few bright spots in April sales, but retailers continue to struggle

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Shoppers again stayed away from department stores and upscale retailers in April, preferring to spend their dollars at discounters such as Wal-Mart and Ross.

According to a tally of 32 major chain stores, sales at stores open at least a year increased 0.7% compared with the same month last year, the International Council of Shopping Centers said today. But sales were inflated by a later Easter date that pushed the holiday into April and masked continued problems in the industry, analysts said.

‘March overstated the weakness and April overstates the strength,’ said Michael Niemira, chief economist of the shopping center group. ‘There were a lot of things across the month that started to look more positive, but it didn’t seem to have a material impact.’

There were a few bright spots: Wal-Mart reported that sales increased 5% compared with last year; discounters Ross and TJX, which operates T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, registered gains of 6% and 3%, respectively; and teen retailer Aeropostale posted a whopping 20% increase.

Luxury chains continued to fare poorly, with Saks posting a 32% decline and Nordstrom a 10.8% drop.

Analysts are expecting the industry’s woes to last through much of this year.

-- Andrea Chang