According to Wall Street predictions, US department store retailers seem to be about to hit bottom. According to data from Thomson Reuters, retail company Penny should be able to achieve a good performance of 5.8%, while Nordstrom's performance increased by 3.2%. Even Sears, which has been struggling for a long time, is expected to achieve a comparable sales growth of 1%. In recent years, the overall sales performance of American department stores has shown a downward trend. According to data released by the US Department of Commerce, the peak sales of the US retail industry can be traced back to $232.5 billion in 2000, compared to only $179.7 billion in 2012. In the second quarter of this year, the sales performance of department stores decreased by 0.5% year-on-year again.
Some analysts believe that Penny's return from last year's predicament indicates that the surviving department stores are becoming vibrant. Taking Coach as an example, this high-end handbag manufacturer has gradually fallen out of favor with consumers in the United States, prompting it to decide to close 20% of its specialty stores this year, reversing the trend of the company's recent grand opening of new stores. Coach will instead rely more on department stores like Messi and Nordstrom, leveraging the foot traffic they attract. As Coach doubles its bets on 12 high-quality North American markets and the market narrows, Coach will also leverage 810 Messi brand chain stores to reach consumers.
Independent retail analyst Mary Driscoll said, "We are starting to see department stores playing creative cards, which is reassuring. The situation has reversed, and it should be very promising.".