General merchandise and food discount store operator Target Corp. (TGT) and warehouse clubs operator BJ's Wholesale Club, Inc. (BJ) Thursday reported lower comparable-store sales for the month of October 2009. Excluding the negative impact from gasoline deflation and volumes, BJ's merchandise comparable club sales were higher than last year. Both companies' total sales for the month rose year-over-year.
Target
Target reported a 0.1% decline in its comparable-store sales for the month of October compared with a decline of 4.8% last year. In October, the company, which currently operates 1,743 Target stores in 49 States, generated net retail sales of $4.54 billion, up 2.8% from $4.42 billion for the four weeks ended on November 1, 2008.
Target's retail segment includes large general merchandise and food discount stores and Target.com, a fully integrated on-line business. In addition, the company operates a credit card segment that offers branded proprietary and Visa credit card products.
Commenting on the results, Gregg Steinhafel, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Target Corp., stated, "Sales for the month of October were slightly better than our expectation."
"Consistent with September results, October comparable store transactions were positive, and comparable store sales in apparel were slightly stronger than for the company overall. We are entering the holiday season with very clean inventories and we believe we are positioned to perform well in what continues to be a challenging economic environment," Steinhafel noted.
For the quarter-to-date period, the company's comparable-store sales dropped 1.6% on top of a 3.3% decline in the prior-year period. Total sales rose 1.4% for the period to $14.79 billion. The company's year-to-date comparable-store sales were down 3.9% in comparison with a 1.5% drop a year ago. Total sales also edged down 0.3% to $43.72 billion.
BJ's Wholesale
BJ's, which currently operates 184 BJ's Wholesale clubs and 104 gasoline stations in 15 States, reported a 3.5% rise in its October 2009 sales to $764.7 million from $738.9 million in October 2008. On a comparable club basis, sales for the month decreased 1.1%, compared with a decline of 2.5% last year. October 2009 results included a negative impact from sales of gasoline worth 4.8%.
Excluding the negative impact from lower gasoline prices and volumes versus last year, merchandise comparable club sales increased 3.7%, versus a 3.9% rise a year ago. The company said that merchandise sales excluding gasoline increased in weeks one, two and four and decreased in week three.
Excluding the negative impact of lower gasoline prices and volumes versus last year, comparable club sales increased in all major regions in October, with the highest increases in Metro New York and the Southeast.
BJ's also said that excluding sales of gasoline, traffic increased approximately 4% and the average transaction amount was approximately flat to last year.
Sales of food were up about 4% and sales of general merchandise increased approximately 3%. Departments with the strongest sales increases compared to last year included candy, cereal, chemicals, cigarettes, computers, frozen, health & beauty aids, housewares, juices, paper products, pet food, produce, salty snacks, small appliances and televisions. Weaker departments included pre-recorded video, toys, trash bags and video games, the company noted.
For the third quarter, BJ's total sales increased 2% to $2.45 billion from $2.40 billion in the prior-year quarter. Comparable club sales were down 2.5%, including a negative impact from sales of gasoline of 6.4%. For the third quarter of 2008, comparable club sales increased 11.9%, including a 5.3% contribution from gasoline sales.
For the nine-month period, the company reported total sales of $7.2 billion, down 1.2% from $7.3 billion a year earlier. Comparable club sales declined 4.1%, including a negative gasoline sales impact of 8.8%. This compares with last year period's comparable club sales growth of 12.3%, including a contribution from sales of gasoline of 5.8%.
Peer Performance
Issaquah, Washington-based membership warehouses operator Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) Thursday reported a 5% increase in comparable store sales for October, while net sales climbed 7% year-on-year to $5.68 billion, reflecting the positive impact of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. Dollar. U.S. comparable sales improved 2% and International comparable sales increased 17% for the month.
TGT rose $0.46 and is trading at $49.73, on a volume of 2.88 million shares.
BJ is trading at $35.70, up $0.16, on a volume of 512,160 shares.
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