Strong June reported

Thursday, July 7, 2005 | 9:21 a.m.

NEW YORK -- The arrival of summer weather gave the nation's retailers their best showing in months in June, with even recent laggards like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. turning in solid results.

As sales figures were released today, the winners crossed all sectors, including discounters, wholesale clubs such as Costco Wholesale Corp., department stores like Nordstrom Inc. and J.C. Penney Co. Inc. and teen retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch Co.

June's solid performance was a relief for retailers, who had only modest increases the past three months, when lower-than-normal temperatures hurt demand for seasonal merchandise.

Wal-Mart, whose lower-income shoppers are most vulnerable to the vagaries of the economy and rising gasoline prices, reported a 4.5 percent increase in sales at stores open at least a year.

archive