Retail Search Group

August sales show that consumers are continuing to spend despite concern expressed around consumer confidence. In fact, overall August sales increased 4.4%. Some 11 of 25 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters exceeded their sales expectations. One word separates those with strong comparable store numbers, and its “fashion.” Check out the attached list and you’ll see that fashion is selling across the board for both apparel and home store.

High-End Highs
Nordstrom posted a 6.7% comp store increase, followed closely by Macys with a 5% increase. Saks turned in a 6.1% increase. Limited brands led the fashion pack with impressive 11.0% comparable store growth.

The Mainstream
Wholesale retailers like Costco and BJ’s continue to dominate their spaces. Costco delivered 11% growth while BJ’s came forward with 11.5% comp store growth for August.

Some Fall Short
Target put their fashion foot forward and led their segment with a 4.1% increase, leaving Gap (-6.0%), Kohl’s (-1.9%) and JC Penney (-1.9%) wondering what happened. The consumer is clearly showing a preference away from basics. It takes a courageous, confident fashion team with experienced retail Buyers to deliver solid apparel numbers. Look at the August sales results and you’ll see who has the talent on board for our times. Expect significant changes at those retailers missing the August fashion train. Their numbers will likely show minimal improvement until they have the right talent to drive their business.

Slowly Getting Better
The unemployment picture has changed little, with little change expected. The good news is that consumers are spending and retail growth continues to be solid for many leading retail brands.

The Candidate Market
As we reported last month, top grading is accelerating as companies are driving extra gross margin points and sales increases. Since when in the retail business is it OK to not deliver increases in those areas? Mediocre performers rarely deliver the best financial results just as the top performers typically do. Is your team delivering to your expectations?

The leading brands in retail engage our services because we deliver the top performing candidates. We cold call and attract the best talent from the competition, then deliver them to our Client partners. Be a part of the winning retail team, be a part of Retail Search Group.

Our highly tenured retail team delivers recruiting expertise in the following areas:

• Retail Field Operations
• Retail Finance & Accounting
• Buying and Global Product Development
• Human Resources
• Retail Multi-Channel Marketing
• Merchandise Planning & Allocation
• Visual Presentation
• Distribution Services

Click here for August National Retail Sales Results