Business news briefs for May 6, 2004

Thursday, May 6, 2004 | 10:53 a.m.

Retailers report modest sales gains in April

NEW YORK -- After a strong spending pace the first three months of the year, consumers retrenched a little in April, leaving many retailers with modest sales gains for the month.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Limited Brands, TJX Cos., Target Corp., Talbots Inc. and May Department Stores Co. were among the retailers that reported disappointing sales today.

"It was winterlike weather in the Northeast, but there were other factors too," said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at The International Council of Shopping Centers. Niemira's preliminary sales tally for 70 retailers was up 4.4 percent, below the 5 percent gain that he had expected.

A fairly early Easter prompted many consumers to do their shopping in March, depressing last month's business by about 1.5 percentage points, Niemira estimated. But he also thinks retailers are beginning to see the effects of higher gasoline and food prices.

CEO undergoes surgery

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- McDonald's Corp.'s Charlie Bell, who became chief executive of the world's largest restaurant company last month when James Cantalupo died suddenly, underwent surgery for colorectal cancer.

Bell's surgery Wednesday afternoon was successful and his recuperation is expected to be "brief," McDonald's said in a statement. Spokesman Walt Riker declined to comment further.

Bell, 43, rose from flipping hamburgers in an Australian McDonald's in 1975 to become president and chief operating officer 16 months ago. He was named CEO last month after Cantalupo died at the age of 60 in Orlando, Fla.