U.S. clothing retailers report modest sales gains in March

A sampling of U.S. apparel retailers on Thursday reported modest sales gains at established stores for the month of March, despite the positive impact of an earlier Easter this year. The harsh winter weather continued to dampen spring apparel sales as it kept customers away from stores.

However, the earlier Easter is expected to negatively impact sales in the peak spring selling weeks in April.

A report released from the Conference Board on March 31 showed that its consumer confidence index in the U.S. unexpectedly rebounded in the month of March, driven by an improved short-term outlook for both employment and income prospects.

The U.S. consumer confidence index jumped to 101.3 in March from an upwardly revised 98.8 in February. The increase came as a surprise to economists, who had expected the index to edge down to 95.5 from the 96.4 originally reported for the previous month.

Economists say that the strength of confidence, along with improving labor market conditions, indicates that real consumption growth will accelerate over the coming months. Sales at established stores or comparable-store sales is a key retail industry performance metric to gauge activity at store locations that have been open for at least a year.

L Brands, Inc. (LB), the operator of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains, said its March comparable store sales increased 9 percent, reflecting strength in both Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works stores. Net sales were 981.2 million dollar, up 6 percent from 923.7 million dollar last year. Stein Mart, Inc. (SMRT) reported a 11.2 percent growth in comparable store sales for the month of March. Total monthly sales also grew 14.2 percent to 155.8 million dollar from the prior-year month.

Teen apparel retailer Buckle, Inc. (BKE) announced that comparable store net sales for the month of March decreased 0.5 percent. However, net sales grew 1.7 percent to 108.5 million dollar from last year's 106.6 million dollar.

Buckle began including online sales in its reported comparable store sales from the February 2015 monthly sales release and for all future periods. Value-priced fashion apparel retailer Cato Corp. (CATO) reported that March same-store sales increased 12 percent, and total sales also grew 15 percent from last year to 117 million dollar.

"March sales were favorably impacted by the shift of Easter from mid-April last year to early April this year," the company stated.

Another specialty retailer of action sports related apparel, footwear, equipment and accessories Zumiez, Inc. (ZUMZ) reported Wednesday that its comparable store sales for March grew 5.5 percent, on top of last year's 2.9 percent drop. Total net sales also increased 11.1 percent from last year to 70.7 million dollar. (DPA)