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Cold spells slower retail sales
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - An unseasonably cold February meant slower than expected sales for many of the region's top retailers.
"It really would have been great if we would have had the weather we have now in December," said Burlington Coat Factory's Dave Marks, who serves as regional sales manager for the Baltimore/Washington area.
T.J. Maxx, Macy's and Wal-Mart all attributed lower February numbers to the harsh weather. Though Wal-Mart saw a 0.9 percent increase in sales, that was below what the company had projected for the month. Federated Department Stores Inc., which owns Bloomingdale's and Macy's, had growth of only 1.2 percent - less than half of the predicted rate of 2-3 percent. Ice storms during the days leading up to Valentine's Day particularly hurt the company, CEO Terry Lundgren said in a March 8 press release.
Cold temperatures often keep people home unless they have a driving reason to go out, such as Christmas shopping, Clear Thinking Group Partner and Managing Director Lee Diercks said.
For Burlington, which has nine stores in the area, the story was a little different, Marks said. Slow winter clothing sales in December, as well as slower spring clothing sales in February, hurt the company. Coat and outerwear sales soared, however, during January and February -boosting sales about 1 percent, he estimated.
The weather didn't slow down all retailers, particularly those marketing upscale clothing. Nordstrom Inc., which has seven branches in the area, enjoyed a 9.1 percent jump in sales for February.
High-end retailers are more insulated from weather-related sales drops because their customers are less driven by need, Diercks said. Lower-income customers hold off until it gets cold to purchase their winter apparel, and often go to stores and only find spring clothing available, he said.
Melissa.Frederick@DCExaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
4:08 PM MST on Mon., Jul. 7, 2008 re: "High temperatures expected to last throughout the week"
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re: "Storm leaves thousands without power, closes several schools in Baltimore area"
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MrHyphy said:
Time to chill on the block with a tank top yadadafeel me?
8 agree | 7 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Was the tree in the picture cut down? There is no breakage on the tree and looks like it was taken down by a chain saw.
9 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Let's not forget those of us that were stranded because MTA doesn't have a proper back up plan for light rail interuptions. Dozens of people waited for their chance to crowd onto a shuttle bus, maybe 3 showed up in the hour i waited. When lodging a complaint, the MTA rep. said they do not plan for these things. REALLY? you should always plan for how to get around an interuption in the line. But then again, its the MTA! BTW, what the hell does O'Malley ahve to do with the weather? Everyone seems to be all up in arms about relating him to the storm damage. It's an act of nature, or as some might say, an act of GOD lol. if so, GOD does not seem to be happy with those that are close minded lately.
12 agree | 10 disagree
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Steven Lessner said:
O'malley,busch,and miller would all be typical weatherman where they could lie to the public.Between the state liars and shelia dixon and her corrupt adminstration it's a race to see who can steal more tax dollars. Dixon's adminstration does a pretty good job of stealing since most of her people are black.Instead of giving a tax break she wants to give raises to her people while other people in the private sector are losing their jobs let's give raises and screw the people in the city. Dixon doesn't care about the city of baltimore, one of the most violent in the country.Just as O'Malley could care less about Maryland,this is not the "FREE STATE" anymore it's should be renamed the expensive state that has the most laws in the nation.
11 agree | 12 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
O'Malley would make a better weather man than he is a politician. He could lie about the weather and blame it on Bob Ehrlich and global warming.
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Examiner Reader said:
Had it not been for global warming there would be 40 inches of snow laying on the ground right now with many people losing thier lives!
9 agree | 9 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Was the issue with VDOT and /or the lack of the national /local reporting
150 agree | 171 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Virginia definitely doesn't know how to handle this type of weather, let alone do Virginia drivers know how to drive. Being from Indiana, it cracks me up to see places of business closing down because the weather report says there's a chance of snow. People need to slow down and remember what driver's ed taught them, it'll save lives.
157 agree | 162 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Cabin fever!!!
158 agree | 131 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The problem is that Virginia does not know how to handle winter weather. It's not just highways. "It was a perfect storm at a perfect time..."? Gimme a break. Just own up to not having enough DOT trucks, and to not having an efficient plan when snow/ice falls. There certainly are plenty of other states that deal with snow/ice every year, yet they don't seem to have these issues. It's amazing really.
163 agree | 157 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
ok
179 agree | 186 disagree
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Tinker said:
Just think how much colder it would be if "AL" had not invented global warming!
200 agree | 173 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Actually, there was also a 7:05 ferry from Oakland to SF that I was on - what a wild ride!
227 agree | 210 disagree
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