Core Retail Sales For April See Slight Increase From Last Year ...

By Cary
Fri, Jun 1 2012 12:45 am | Comments

Words and Data: Cary Allington

Year-over-year sales gains for the shops on the ActionWatch same-store retail panel were just barely positive in April with revenues up 1.4%. The main driver that kept sales growth in positive territory was footwear while sales growth was down in most other major categories. Closed-toe shoes experienced very high sales growth while sales of sandals were slightly down.

Men?s accessory sales also grew slightly compared to the same month last year but was offset by a nearly 17% sales decline for ladies? accessories. Bags performed especially poorly in April and played a significant role in pushing overall accessory sales down.

Apparel sales were slightly down for both male and female genders. Sales of jeans were down the most while non-denim pants, shorts and tanks along with a few other apparel classes experienced sales growth in April. Skateboard hardgood sales were down while surf and wakeboard sales showed growth.

Although April was the worst performing month so far this year for the average ActionWatch panel member it was at least still a positive growth month overall.

April showed a distinct drop in sales growth compared to the first three months of the year but still stayed in positive territory overall due to continued strong growth of footwear.

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The ActionWatch Retail Panel includes 250 surf/skate independent specialty shops across the U.S. and is growing rapidly as more retailers join the free program. Retailers who participate get free access to a set of 50 reports updated each month. Retailers interested in joining the ActionWatch Retail Panel can get more information at www.ActionWatch.com.

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All ActionWatch reports are made from the aggregated data of the participating retailers, which are located throughout the U.S. and vary in size from 750-square-foot shops to stores over 10,000 square feet. Data is collected monthly from electronic reports submitted by participating retailers.

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