
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 6, 1995                   TAG: 9501060093
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DECEMBER SALES OK, NOT STELLAR

Retail sales in December were weaker than most analysts had expected going into the holiday season, but nevertheless posted a respectable showing.

Sales were ``a little weaker than I had expected, but were still pretty good, particularly given the tough comparisons'' with 1992 and 1993's holiday periods, said David Kelly, senior economist at Lehman Bros. Global Economics in Boston. ``Consumers are in very good shape in general and retailers can look for gains in the year to come.''

``The story in general was the same for all of the chains,'' said Dana Saporta, an economist at Stone and McCarthy Research Associates in Princeton, N.J. ``They had strong sales in the weekend after Thanksgiving and in the last couple of days before Christmas. But between those times'' there was a long lull.

Heading into 1995, there remains ``some concern that the heavy use of credit cards may serve to slow down sales after January when the bills start coming through,'' she said.

Here are December sales reports issued Thursday by chains operating in Western Virginia. Comparable-store sales refer to stores operating at least a year, a more valid measure because they remove the impact of highly promoted sales resulting from new-store openings.

Best Products Co. reported sales of $374.6 million in December, up 4.5 percent over December 1993. Comparable-store sales rose 2 percent comparing the same months.

Charming Shoppes reported sales of $189 million, down 1 percent; comparable-store sales fell by 8 percent.

Family Dollar Stores sales were $231 million, up 6.7 percent; comparable-store sales fell 2.3 percent.

Heilig-Meyers reported sales of $110 million, up 30 percent; comparable-store sales rose 6.2 percent.

Hills Department Stores rose 6.5 percent to $372.6 million; comparable-store sales rose 4.1 percent.

The Limited reported sales of $1.48 billion, up 6 percent; comparable-store sales fell 4 percent.

Lowe's reported sales of $623 million, up 27 percent; comparable-store sales rose 9 percent.

May Department Stores, parent of Hecht's and Payless Shoesource, reported sales of $2.2 billion, up 8.3 percent; comparable-store sales rose 4.5 percent.

TJX Cos., parent of T.J. Maxx, reported sales of $543 million, up 7 percent; comparable-store sales were unchanged.

Woolworth Co. reported sales of $1.35 billion, up 5.8 percent; comparable-store sales rose 1.9 percent.

by CNB