As per Master card Spending Plus, apparel sales in the US declined in January though this decline was the smallest year-on-year since the pandemic hit sales in March 2020. However, sales at department stores grew by 1.5 per cent, marking a first positive month since December 2019. The hardware and furnishing sector witnessed highest growth.
According to Business of Fashion, the growth in department stores could be attributed to redemptions in holiday gift-cards and returns of in-person gifts. These stores performed better in the Southwest and on the West Coast due to the weather conditions and COVID restrictions weighing on East Coast retail.
Total retail sales, excluding cars and gasoline, rose by 9.2 percent last month from a year earlier. Online sales grew by 62.1 percent. The estimates are 95 percent correlated with the official retail sales figures the Commerce Department will release later this month
