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BUSINESS Friday 10 November 2017

Department stores: Macy’s
sales fall, Kohl’s proit drops

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s sales fell as it had a hard
time pulling shoppers through its doors and Kohl’s re-
ported a drop in quarterly proit Thursday, underscor-
ing just how challenging the holiday shopping season
will be for department store chains.
Like many retailers, Macy’s and Kohl’s have wrestled
with weak sales as customers go online. Department
stores, which are heavily dependent on clothing
sales, are seeing more competition there as Amazon
expands further into fashion and so-called off price
chains like T.J. Maxx add more stores.
Macy’s Inc. reported that its third-quarter earnings
more than doubled as it cut costs, which include
eliminating jobs, scaling back on inventory and clos-
ing some locations. It’s been expanding into off-price
stores and launched a loyalty program last month
that it hopes will attract more shoppers. Still, revenue Sogou Inc. CEO Xiaochuan Wang, left, and company Chairman Charles Zhang, right, ring a
at stores open at least a year fell for the 11th straight ceremonial bell as their IPO begins trading, on the loor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday,
quarter. The drop of 4 percent was worse than the 2.9 Nov. 9, 2017. New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley is at center.
percent analysts expected. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
At Kohl’s Corp., hurricanes and unseasonal weather
weighed on sales, but it did have a strong back-to- Industrials, techs fall on tax law uncertainty
school shopping season and it raised its outlook for
By MARLEY JAY gest loss in months, as the day. The Russell 2000 index
the year. Same-store sales edged up 0.1 percent, AP Markets Writer Dow Jones industrial aver- of smaller-company stocks
better than the 0.6 percent decline analysts had ex-
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. age fell as much as 253 fell 6.71 points, or 0.5 per-
pected. And it said business was helped by picking stocks skidded Thursday points, but they made up cent, to 1,475.02, its lowest
up market share from store closures of rivals in certain
after Senate Republicans some of that ground in the level since late September.
regions. surprised Wall Street by afternoon. Google’s parent company
Upscale department store Nordstrom is set to release
proposing a delay in cut- The stock sectors that fell Alphabet tumbled $157,
third-quarter results after the stock market closes ting corporate taxes. In- Thursday include some of or 1 percent, to $1,047.22
Thursday, while J.C. Penney is scheduled to report Fri-
dustrial and technology the best-performing stocks while payment company
day. Penney announced late last month that it had companies fell the most, on the market this year, eBay lost $1.32, or 3.6 per-
to liquidate poor-selling merchandise, primarily wom-
en’s clothing, a move that it said will hurt proits. but stocks regained some and investors reacted to cent, to $35.69.
It’s been a tough year for retail overall, with store clos- of their losses before the the potentially delayed tax Warne added that some-
closing bell. Senate Repub- cut by taking some proits. thing else worried investors
ings on pace to top the worst year of the recession
and several well-known chains iling for bankruptcy licans introduced a tax bill “Most investors knew there Thursday: reports over the
a week after their House was uncertainty about last two days that the Jus-
protection because of their debts. Mall shopping is counterparts did the same. the speciic provisions, but tice Department has ob-
down, and that hits department store chains particu-
While both bills would ulti- thought that the House jections to AT&T’s purchase
larly hard. So the holiday season, always important, is mately reduce the corpo- and the Senate would at of Time Warner Cable.
even more critical.
rate tax rate to 20 percent least agree there would be Donald Trump’s administra-
Stores are planning early holiday promotions and from 35 percent, the Sen- some kind of cut in corpo- tion has emphasized cut-
some are opening earlier on Thanksgiving than last
year to try to scoop up some trafic. Kohl’s and J.C. ate legislation doesn’t do rate tax rates in 2018,” said ting regulations, and she
Penney are both opening an hour earlier on Thanks- that until 2019. However Kate Warne, an investment said investors are surprised
the worst results Thursday strategist at Edward Jones. the government is taking is-
giving than a year ago, but Penney is trying to out- came not from the small- The Standard & Poor’s 500 sue with the $85 billion deal
do its department store rivals. J.C. Penney said it will
er, U.S.-focused compa- index dropped 9.76 points, — and that the Justice De-
open at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving and stay open until 10 nies that might beneit the or 0.4 percent, to 2,584.62. partment and the compa-
p.m. on Friday. Kohl’s is opening at 5 p.m. and will be
most from a domestic tax The Dow Jones industrial nies are arguing about it in
open straight through midnight on Black Friday. cut, but from larger multi- average fell 101.42 points, public. After a steep loss
Most Macy’s stores will open at 5 p.m. local time on
national companies like or 0.4 percent, to 23,461.94. Wednesday, Time Warner
Thanksgiving and close at 2 a.m., similar to last year. industrial and technology The Nasdaq composite slid Cable fell a further $1.45, or
They will reopen 6 a.m. local time on Black Friday. Ma- irms and basic materials
cy’s is increasing the number of temporary workers it’s makers. Industrial compa- 39.07 points, or 0.6 percent, 1.6 percent, to $87.05 and
to 6,750.05. Each closed at AT&T rose 56 cents, or 1.7
hiring for distribution and warehouses for the holiday
nies had their worst day in an all-time high on Wednes- percent, to $34. q
season as it chases fast-growing e-commerce sales. almost three months. Weak
Kohl’s, meanwhile, has expanded its partnership with
reports from aircraft parts
Amazon to sell devices like the Echo and Fire tablets maker TransDigm and
at some stores. It also will pack and ship eligible Ama-
medical waste processor
zon return items for free at stores offering the service. Stericycle were partly to
“We believe both of these tests have the potential to
drive incremental trafic to our stores, which as you blame, while a weak fore-
know is our No. 1 priority,” CEO Kevin Mansell said dur- cast from Johnson Controls
also hurt the sector. Media
ing the call with analysts Thursday. companies traded higher
Analyst Neil Saunders, managing director of manag-
after a solid report from
ing director of GlobalData Retail, said he was en- Twenty-First Century Fox
couraged that Kohl’s “is innovating with both new
and energy companies
products and services,” but criticized Macy’s for “the also rose. At midday stocks
patchiness of its turnaround program.”q
were on track for their big-