Department stores strong in October, led by Nordstrom

New York -- As the holidays approach and retailers are still recovering from Hurricane Sandy, October same-store sales results showcased consistent strength in the department store category.



Nordstrom led the pack with a 9.8% rise in same-store sales for the month, and Macy’s Inc. had a solid showing as well.



“Business was strong in October,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and CEO of Macy’s, Inc. “The key growth strategies we put in place three years ago continue to provide us new opportunities for continuous improvement in driving sales. We are feeling confident about our prospects for the upcoming holiday season and have increased our sales guidance for the fall season, despite the interruption caused by Hurricane Sandy in the first few days of the fourth quarter.”



Macy’s reported a 4.1% same-store sales rise in October and posted total sales of $1.908 billion for the four weeks ended Oct. 27, an increase of 3.6% compared with $1.842 billion in the prior-year period.

Macy’s said it is raising its guidance for same-store sales growth in the second half of 2012 to approximately 4% (an increase from previous guidance of up approximately 3.7%).



Kohl’s Corp. reported a 3.3% same-store sales rise on Thursday, and total sales increased 2.6% in the third quarter. The company also announced that it would no longer report monthly sales, effective fiscal 2013.



Other department store same-store sales results in October include:

• Stage Stores beat Wall Street expectations with a 6.5% rise, when just 2.8% was forecast; and


• Bon-Ton Stores gained 3.7%.