April Same-Store Sales Improve Slightly

April Same-Store Sales Improve Slightly
May 09, 2008

April same-store sales growth improved to 3.7 percent, mostly due to weak year-ago comparison periods for about 40 retailers reporting monthly results on May 8, according to TNS Retail Forward. April's result is up from the negative 0.1 percent sales-weighted composite reported last month and up from the negative 1.5 percent composite reported in April 2007, which was hurt by an Easter calendar shift. April's results were led by stronger-than-average results at warehouse clubs. Discount department stores and apparel and accessories stores reported modest gains. Drugstores and department stores were the laggards. April's numbers may have benefited from early tax rebate spending. Households reported little change in April in their plans for using the tax rebates, according to the April ShopperScape survey by TNS Retail Forward. Roughly two of every five households plan to spend their tax rebate on either everyday expenses or a special purchase (such as a big-ticket consumer electronics item). The share of shoppers was 39 percent in April compared with 42 percent in February. Thirty-five percent of consumers plan to spend their tax rebate either to pay down mortgage debt, credit cards or other bills, compared to 38 percent in February. Forty-four percent of primary household shoppers said in April that they plan to spend less at retail stores than they did last year--up from 40 percent in March and 28 percent in February. Forty-four percent of shoppers said they plan to spend about the same as they did last year--down from 48 percent in March and 59 percent in February. The pullback in spending plans over recent months is evident across income groups, although up-market households remain more inclined to spend than middle-market and down-market households. A much bigger share of households felt "worse off" in April compared with prior months in terms of the worth of their investments (39 percent) and the value of their homes (32 percent). These "worse off" responses increased by 12 and 10 percentage points, respectively. Households also responded more negatively in April compared with prior months with regard to job security, household income levels, credit card debt levels and mortgage and car payments.