Thursday, Saks Inc. (SKS), a fashion retail company, announced a 5.9% drop in August same-store sales, marking the second consecutive month of lower comparable sales. Owned total sales for the five-week period ended August 30, 2008, were down 6.1%.
For the month of August, owned total sales declined to $200.5 million from $213.5 million in the four weeks ended September 1, 2007.
The operator of brands like Saks Fifth Avenue, Club Libby Lu, reported a same-store sales decrease of 5.9% for August 2008, compared to an increase of 18.2% in August 2007.
The categories that enjoyed strong sales were fashion jewelry, fragrances, men's sportswear and men's shoes, while the weakest categories in the month were women's apparel, women's shoes and intimate apparel.
In the month of July, the company had reported a 5.3% decline in same-store sales and 4.6% fall in total owned sales.
For the seven months ended August 30, 2008, owned sales increased 1.8% to $1.71 billion from $1.68 billion in the period ended September 1, 2007. Same-store sales for the seven-month period increased 1.6%.
Among competitors, Nordstrom, Inc., (JWN), a fashion specialty retailer, reported a 7.9% decrease in same-store sales for the month of August. Total sales for the four-week period ended August 30, 2008 were down 4.2%.
Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) reported Thursday a 3.0% increase in US comparable store sales for the month of August, excluding the impact of fuel, and a 3.5% rise in comparable store sales, including the impact of fuel.
Wal-Mart's net sales for the month rose 8.7% to $30.67 billion from $28.22 billion last year. The company said sales were strongest in grocery, health and wellness.
Saks currently operates Saks Fifth Avenue, which consists of 53 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 48 Saks Off 5th stores.
SKS is currently trading at $10.91, down 42 cents or 3.62%, on a volume of 174,874 shares. In early hours, the stock was trading at $10.81.
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