October Sales Give Mass Retailers Positive Outlook For The 2001 Holiday Season.
October 12, 2001
The International Mass Retail Association in the past few months has seen positive same-store sales from its members as the mass retail sector has consistently pulled market share away from traditional department stores. October industry chain-store sales remained positive with a 2.3 percent year-over-year comparable-store gain from the same period last year.*
IMRA members reporting positive same-store sales are: Fred’s Inc., 14.9 percent; Michaels Stores Inc., 9 percent; Dollar General Corporation, 8.5 percent; Duckwall-ALCO Stores, Inc., 7.2 percent; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 6.7 percent; Family Dollar Stores Inc., 6.2 percent; ShopKo Stores, Inc., 5.1 percent; and Target Stores, Inc., 4.1 percent.
“We are optimistic that consumers will continue the trend of shopping at mass retailers throughout the 2001 Holiday season,” said IMRA President Robert J. Verdisco. “According to our 2001 Holiday Consumer Survey, discount department stores are the shopping venue of choice.”
IMRA polled American consumers about the December Holiday Season, October 19-22. According to those polled, discount department stores are where the majority of consumers (82%) plan to shop for their Holiday gifts and they said they plan to spend $863, up 4.4 percent from last year’s expectations.
* Based on the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi’s tally of 83 chain stores in October 2001.
For more information at http://www.imra.org
