Retail fiscal year ends on a high note
Americans are investing in their wardrobes again.
As the retail fiscal year ends this weekend, experts believe it will show apparel sales climbing back to healthier levels.
If so, it will be good riddance to the great retail apocalypse of 2017.
A strong holiday season, in which sales rose 4.9 percent — the largest year-over-year increase since 2011, according to MasterCard — continued into January.
“We believe apparel is making a comeback,” said Craig Johnson, chief executive of Customer Growth Partners, which estimates that apparel sales will increase by more than 3 percent in three months ending Feb. 3 — up from about 2.5 percent a year ago.
More than 70 percent of companies that reported holiday sales beat Wall Street’s expectations on comparable sales, said Nomura/Instinet analyst Simeon Siegel.
Among the strongest performers were American Eagle, with an 8 percent increase in comparable sales, Children’s Place, with an 8.5 percent gain, and Kohl’s, 6.9 percent.
“The strength coming out of the holiday season has not abated yet,” Siegel said.
What’s more, the largest contributor to retail job growth in January, according to the National Retail Federation, were jobs in clothing and accessories stores.