May good month for apparel: Cato, Ross & American Apparel up

The Cato Corporation Thursday reported sales of $84.3 million

for the four weeks ended May 26, 2012, a 4% increase over sales of $80.7 million for the four weeks ended May 28, 2011. In the same vein, both Ross Stores and American Apparel left behind past troubles to shine in May with sales up by 13% and 15% respectively.

"May same-store sales were good for much of the month and benefited from an easier comparison to the prior year," commented John Cato, the Company's Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer. Sales for the seventeen weeks ended May 26, 2012 were $357.1 million, a 2% increase over sales of $351.7 million for the seventeen weeks ended May 28, 2011. The Company's year-to-date same-store sales decreased 1%.Same-store sales for the month increased 3%. The stock gained 0.88% in Wall Street after releasing monthly sales.
 
Meanwhile, Ross Stores, Inc. registered a sales increase of 13% to $746 million for the four weeks ended May 26, 2012, up from $661 million for the four weeks ended May 28, 2011. Comparable store sales for the month grew 8% on top of a 4% increase last year. For the 17 weeks ended May 26, 2012, sales totaled $3.103 billion, a 13% increase over the $2.736 billion in sales for the 17 weeks ended May 28, 2011. Comparable store sales for the 17 weeks ended May 26, 2012 also grew 8% over a 4% gain in the prior year period. Good news on May sales turned into a 1.09% hike at the trading floor.
 
Michael Balmuth, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our strong sales results in May demonstrate that our ongoing focus on providing exciting assortments of name brand fashions for the family and the home continues to resonate with today's value-oriented consumers. While we hope to do better, for the balance of the quarter our forecast for same store sales to increase 3% to 4% in June and 2% to 3% in July remains unchanged."
 
Finally, “May will represent our 12th consecutive month of positive comparable sales, and I am particularly pleased with the strength of retail store sales," said Dov Charney, Chairman and Chief Executive of American Apparel, Inc.