U.S. retail stocks slumped once again on Friday morning amid a cascade of corporate earnings reports in the sector. The drop in names like Nordstrom, J.C. Penney, and Dick’s Sporting Goods follows a drubbing on Thursday as Macy’s reported a particularly sharp drop in comparable-store sales. The moves underscore the challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers, which are closing stores as they contend with competition from e-commerce firms like Amazon.com, where consumers are increasingly spending their money.
A Commerce Department report on Friday showed a seasonally adjusted 0.4% jump in retail sales in April, and revisions higher to prior data, which eased concerns about a broader slump in consumer spending. But the data also showed a growing divide: sales among nonstore retailers, which includes online shopping, jumped 1.4%, while department-store sales had a more mild rise of 0.2%. Nonstore sales are up nearly 12% over the past 12 months, while department store sales were down 3.7%. FULL REPORT
Some of this is probably due to the gender issues,as well as terror threats, and just plain ease of shopping.I am not aware of whether EBT cards are able to be used online, but many of these companies have brought problems on themselves.The only one that is surprising is Dick’s Sporting Goods,but locations of stores is a problem if one has to drive 50 60 miles to buy.