Department store chains see key sales figures fall again

NEW YORK» It’s still a rough time to be a department store.

Macy’s, Kohl’s and Dillard’s all said Thursday that a key sales figure fell again in the latest quarter as customers increasingly shop online, at discount stores and elsewhere. Nordstrom, the outlier, saw those sales rise 1.7 percent overall and even more at its discount Nordstrom Rack unit.

At Macy’s the decrease wasn’t as bad as Wall Street expected, and Kohl’s managed to keep the decline to just 0.4 percent.

But shares of all three plummeted, with Macy’s Inc. hitting a 7-year low Thursday. Kohl’s Corp. fell 5 percent and Dillard’s Inc. dropped 16 percent after reporting a loss of $17.1 million.

Macy’s has cut jobs and closed some stores, has started an offprice brand, and it plans to launch a loyalty program in October that it hopes will bring more shoppers through its doors. The company is open to more changes: When asked Thursday if Macy’s would consider selling medicine, appliances or other items to make it more of a one-stop shop, CEO Jeff Gennette didn’t say no. “Macy’s is a very flexible brand,” he said.

Rival J.C Penney, which is scheduled to report results Friday, has brought major appliances to its stores.

Macy’s, the nation’s largest department store chain, said sales fell 2.8 percent at established stores during the second quarter, its tenth such decline in a row. But that was better than the 3.3 percent drop that analysts expected, according to Fact Set. Kohl’s saw same-store-sales fell 0.4 percent during the quarter. Still, President and CEO Kevin Mansell said foot traffic increased during the quarter. Dillard’s said its sales fell 1 percent at established stores.

At Seattle-based Nordstrom, the flagship Nordstrom unit, which includes online clothing concierge Trunk Club, reported a 1.4 percent increase in sales at established stores. The Nordstrom Rack unit reported a 3.1 percent improvement.

Analysts at Citi said the results from Macy’s were “less bad.” At Kohl’s, they saw “better than expected” sales and hints that the back-to-school season had started well.