Retail Search Group

Retail results for December are clearly positive and reflect some stars shining more brightly than others. Overall, retail sales rose a solid 3.4% at the Thomson Reuters 22-retailer same-store sales index, compared with the 3.3% analyst forecast. When you add the 6.6% increase in nationwide Black Friday sales there is good reason to be optimistic about the national retail trend.

HOT Retail Performances
Continuing to dominate the landscape, department stores reflected the overall health of consumer spending with Macys +6.25, Nordstrom +8.7% and Saks +5.8%. These are good numbers in any year, but especially in these times.

In fashion, Buckle continued to lead with a +8.9% increase. In good company was Limited with +7.0% growth. Gap Inc. was somewhat an exception, reporting that its overall same-store sales were down 4%. Value oriented fashion players also fared well, with Ross and TJX posting +9.0% and +8.0% increases, respectively.

In the home sector, Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond delivered solid third quarter increases, at +4.2% and +4.1%.

Unemployment Scene
Retail trade continued to add jobs in December, with a gain of 28,000. Employment in the industry has increased by 240,000 over the past 12 months. Total U.S. employment grew by 200,000 positions in December, while the unemployment rate fell from an adjusted 8.7 to 8.5 percent.

Do you plan to be promoted?
Unless you plan to stay in your current position until retirement it would be to your advantage to know a recruiting professional who can support your own career development path. If you’re in a leadership role and responsible for managing the hiring process why wouldn’t you begin to develop a relationship with a quality search provider like Retail Search Group?

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

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

Click here for December National Retail Sales Results