Clothing Sales Give Retailers Boost in June : Consumers Spend Less While Paying Off Debts

NEW YORK — The nation’s largest general retailers reported mostly favorable June sales results Thursday, and analysts surveying the figures said they expect consumer spending will continue at a cautious rate.

Retailers had their strongest results in clothing lines, as consumers bought warm-weather apparel, said Monroe Greenstein, a retail industry analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co. Sales of more expensive lines, including appliances and televisions, were soft.

“Sales were good,” Greenstein summed up, but said consumers’ purchases reflected “less willingness to expand their use of debt.”

The nation’s largest retailer, Sears, Roebuck & Co., reported its June sales rose 4.5% when compared to June, 1986, figures, and sales for the 22 weeks ended July 4 were up 3.9% from the same period a year earlier.

June Good Month for Many

K mart said its sales rose 6.5% in June and 8.4% in the 22-week period. Same-store sales, representing sales for stores open at least a year, rose 2.8% in June and 4% in the 22 weeks.

J. C. Penney said its June sales rose 2.4% and year-to-date sales rose 4.6%.

May Department Stores said its sales were up 9.1% in June and 10% for the first five months. Same-store sales were up 4% last month and up 4.3% year-to-date.

Dayton Hudson, which operates Target and Mervyn’s, reported that June sales were up 13.5% and year-to-date sales rose 13.6%. Same-store sales rose 3.7% in June and in the 22-week period.

Montgomery Ward said its sales rose 7.5% in June and in the first 22 weeks of the year.

F. W. Woolworth said its June sales rose 6%, while sales for the cumulative 22 weeks rose 6.2%.

Carter Hawley Hale Stores reported that its sales for June and the first five months of the fiscal year rose 7.6% and 7.4% respectively, from a year earlier. CHH owns the Broadway and Neiman-Marcus.

“Based on the June sales performance, we continue to expect consumer spending to remain at relatively modest levels,” said Jeffrey Feiner, an analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co.

Consumers are holding down their spending while they pay off their high debt levels. The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that Americans paid off $560 million more in credit than they borrowed during May.

Consumer spending is important because it accounts for about two-thirds of the gross national product.

From the retailers’ perspective, while the first part of the year is important, they are more concerned with the second half, as they make the lion’s share of their profits from the pre-Christmas and Christmas season.

MAJOR RETAILERS’ SALES IN JUNE

In million Year % of dollars 1987 ago change Sears 2,833 3,710 + 4.5 K mart 2,427 2,279 + 6.5 J.C. Penney 1,170 1,143 + 2.4 May Dept. Stores 939 860 + 9.1 Federated* 936 870 + 7.5 Dayton Hudson 880 775 +13.5 Wal-Maret Stores 1,231 918 + 34.0 Woolworth 362 341 + 6.0 Montgomery Ward 420 391 + 7.5 Carter Hawley Hale 344 320 + 7.6

* Excludes supermarket sales.

Excludes foreign sales.