Retail Sales for December – No Santa
Williams-Sonoma (WSM) – December Same Store Sales -22.6%
Urban Outfitters (URBN) – +3%
Big 5 Sporting Goods (BGFV) -8.6%
Sears (SHLD) -7.3% (guides q4 higher) ?? I think they will miss that one.
Stage Stores (SSI) -4.9%
Wet Seal (WTSLA) -12.5%
Ultra Salon (ULTA) -5.8%
New York & Company (NWY) sees Q4 sales -10% (closing up to 50 stores, cutting workforce 12%)
Limited (LTD) -10.0% (guides lower)
The Buckle (BKE) +13.5% (wow, what are they selling?)
Pacific Sunwear (PSUN) -10.0% (cuts guidance)
Bebe Stores (BEBE) -20.1% (cuts guidance)
Cache (CACH) -19% (cuts guidance)
Zales (ZLC) -22% (CEO: This holiday period was the most difficult in memory due to the overall macroeconomic situation)
Bon-Ton Stores (BONT) -5.8%
Signet Jewelers (SIG) -10.9% (will stop paying dividend)
Gottschalks (GOTT) -9.6%
Macys (M) -4% (cuts guidance, closing 11 stores)
Gap Stores (GPS) -14% (cuts guidance)
Dillards (DDS) -5%
American Eagle (AEO) -17% (cuts guidance)
BJ Wholesale Club (BJ) +1.6%
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) -13% (cuts guidance significantly)
Target (TGT) -4.1%
Game Stop (GME) +10.2% (raises guidance)
Nordstroms (JWN) -10.6% (cuts guidance)
JC Penney (JCP) -8.1%
Sacks (SKS) -19.8%


These are sales on thinner margins. Anchor stores in malls often pay rent as a % of revenue, so this will be bad for commercial real estate and thus also bad for banks balence sheets.
“Banks and thrifts would suffer in a commercial-real-estate downturn because they own nearly 50% of all commercial mortgages outstanding. … According to Foresight Analytics, as of Sept. 30, 2008, some 1,400 commercial banks and savings institutions had more than 300% of their Tier 1 capital in commercial mortgages.”
Oh My! As chuck says, this is a new economy.