Late-Winter Chills Hurt February Sales

Blasts of wintry weather late in the month contributed to a mediocre performance for retail sales in February. Among the small sample of publicly held retailers that continue to report monthly sales, the largest — Costco Wholesale Corp. and L Brands Inc. — exceeded analysts’ estimates for the month with comparable sales increases of 1 and 6 percent, respectively. Excluding the effect of lower gas prices, Costco’s U.S. comps were up 7 percent, just below the 7.2 percent expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. L Brands’ increase included a 7 percent increase at Victoria’s Secret stores and a 5 percent increase at Bath & Body Works. BBW matched estimates while Victoria’s Secret’s increase was above the 4.9 percent increase anticipated. But other retailers suffered a more direct shot from late winter’s fury. Stein Mart Inc., expected to post a 3 percent increase, came in instead with a 2.6 percent gain, with sales, strong early in the month, “severely impacted by record cold and inclement weather across most of the country in the second half,” the company said. Sales were strongest in three unaffected states – California, Arizona and Florida – which collectively registered an increase three times the corporate figure. There were sales declines

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