It’s Still An Off-pricer’s Game at Retail

In retail, it’s an off-pricer’s world — almost everyone else is just trying to sell in it. Retailers and brands reporting quarterly results over the past two weeks showed signs of a renewed funk in the industry. The hopes of a rebound faded with 2018 and most stores are slogging through spring and crossing their fingers for the second half. And while broadline merchants as diverse as Nordstrom Inc. and Kohl’s Corp. saw quarterly sales retreat in the neighborhood of 3 percent, the off-pricers continue to exist in their own expanding bubble. TJX Cos. Inc. pushed revenues up 6.8 percent while Ross Stores Inc. moved ahead 5.8 percent. (Target Corp. has been showing strength, too, with its digital renaissance and registered 5 percent topline gains). The divergence between the off-pricers and the full-price crowd mixed in with the U.S.-China trade war could drive the two groups even farther apart. Michael Binetti, an analyst at Credit Suisse, said, “Given sluggish spring industry trends (as well as elevated inventories from brands rushing product over ahead of looming tariff threats), we think off-pricers like Ross will benefit from an abundance of inventory opportunities in the near term — and think the off-price group will be relative winners if

Follow WWD on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

Read More...

from WWDWWD http://bit.ly/2K8qaQ0