Last month everyone was calling for the death of retail due to headlines largely focusing on the doom and gloom of department stores. Eventually the monthly sales came out and April was up 3.0% to April 2015. May was along the same theme.
Total May retail sales were up 0.5% to April and up 2.5% to May 2015. A few highlights from May:
- Non-store/online retailers posted a stellar 12.2% year over year gain. The acceleration to online shopping continues.
- Heath and personal care stores posted the 2nd largest year over year increase for April with a 8.3% gain
- Building material & garden equipment slowed but still posted a was up 3.6% year over year gain
- Department Stores multi-decade decline continued with a decline of 5.8% year over year and now down 4.9% for the March thru May period
- The Electronics vacuum of sales to online continues with a decline of 3.1%
While building slowed considerably, non-store (online) exploded and we continue to see strength in health, restaurants and sport. The continued weakness in Electronics and Department Stores with combined weakness in Clothing Stores are the reasons why I believe we will see difficult earnings in Q2.
April Retail Sales can be found here.
March Retail Sales can be found here.
February Retail Sales can be found here.
January Retail Sales can be found here.
December Retail Sales can be found here.