With the exception of Wal-Mart, general retailers had a miserable October. The New York Times called it "a sales collapse." Department stores, clothing stores and luxury stores had the most difficult time.
"The remarkable slowdown hit luxury chains that sell $5,000 designer dresses as badly as stores that offer $18 packs of underwear, suggesting that consumers at all income levels are snapping their wallets shut," the Times reported.
Sales at stores open at least a year fell 16.6% at Saks, 15.7% at Nordstrom, 16% at the Gap, 13% at Penney, 9% at Kohl's and 1% at Costco. By contrast, sales at stores open at least a year were up 2.4% at Wal-Mart.
According to a Thomson Reuters index of 34 retailers quoted by the Wall Street Journal, comp-store sales fell 0.7% for October, its lowest level since the company began tracking figures in 2000. Without Wal-Mart, the index fell more than 4%.
Stores had trimmed inventories during the summer, but the double-digit drops at many retailers in September and October were much higher than expected, resulting in excess fall merchandise just as holiday shipments are arriving. Thus many retailers, including Wal-Mart, are not waiting until Black Friday to discount heavily and they are predicting the worst holiday sales in decades.