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Last summer we lamented the price of gas. This year, however, there's at least one upside. Retail sales for June were up 0.6% - substantially better than the 0.4% anticipated – with the gas prices leading the charge. A slight tip in the brutalized auto manufacturer sector helped, as well. This was the largest retail sales increase in five months.
Gas stations benefited from the cost of fuel, adding a bit of pep to a beleaguered retail industry: sales were up 5% year over year, after doing the same in May. And, car dealers had their best month since January: the sales of cars and parts climbed 2.3%. Nonetheless, this corner of the retail world is still off 14.5% from last year. It may have helped last month, but we're still pretty far from a cure.
Take the cars out of the equation, and retail sales were up only 0.3%, which is below the 0.5% that many economists expected. Electronics and appliance stores and those in the sporting goods business saw growth, but general merchandise stores – like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Target (NYSE: TGT) – were down 0.4%. But, this is more promising than the category's 1.7% drop in May.
Discounters continue to have the advantage, as the current economic climate favors the cheap, as consumers are still controlling their spending. Up-market brands, like Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF)and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (NYSE: AEO) continue to struggle. The former suffered a same-store sales decline of 32% last month, with the latter down 11%.
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