Monthly sales gains in a year in january, despite the expiration of a payroll tax holiday. 20 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters reported an average sales gain of 5 in january. Thats nearly twice as strong as last year. Erika miller looks at whether the sales momentum can continue. Reporter if theres one thing helping retailers these days, its cold weather. Low temperatures in much of the nation has boosted sales of coats and warm clothing. So no surprise that Department Stores selling those items were big winners in january. Kohls, nordstrom, and macys all posted double digit sales increases. If you are trying to clear winter goods that didnt sell over the holidays, the cold snap is a big help. We had a bunch of weather events cold, wet, snow, ice, so things are selling out even if theyve been marked down. Thats really cleaning out inventory that needs to get out before the spring. Reporter but to be fair, there was also a quirk of the calendar that gave many big retailers a fiftyth
Some forecasters say this could be the blizzard of the century with record amounts of snow and extremely strong winds. In parts of the northeast, transportation was shut down. The governors of massachusetts and connecticut declared a state of emergency and banned car travel, Train Service and cancelled flights in and out of boston. While the worst of the storm has yet to hit, many businesses and cities were busy making preparations today. Erika miller reports. Reporter this monstrous storm is already being compared to the great blizzard of 78, when vast amounts of snow blanketed the ohio valley and the great lakes. That storm lasted 36 hours, leaving cars stranded. This storm could also be historic. Weather forecasters predict it will leave up to three feet of snow in a wide swath stretching from new york to boston. Preparations are well underway. Airlines cancelled nearly 4,500 flights, leaving many travelers stranded. Here at laguardia, as you can see, our Port Authority men and wome
Tons of salt on hand. Reporter according to the long island power authority, the storm has the potential to cause Power Outages for 100,000 customers on long island. And for the first time ever, lipa is deferring storm operations and response to its subcontractor, national grid. But in manhattan today, it was mostly business as usual, although many workers did try to leave early to beat the snow. And if the snowfall is anywhere close to the storm of 78, youll see the impact in Economic Data in the weeks ahead. Usually major storms cause increased volatility in Economic Data. So, that jobless claims jump significantly in the beginning as government offices close, because of the storm. And they surge back up after the offices reopened. Reporter if theres a Silver Lining in this storm, its the timing. The heaviest snowfall will happen over the weekend. And the cleanup is expected well before valentines day, which contributes 18 billion to the economy. Erika miller, n. B. R. , new york. Su
20 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters reported an average sales gain of 5 in january. Thats nearly twice as strong as last year. Erika miller looks at whether the sales momentum can continue. Reporter if theres one thing helping retailers these days, its cold weather. Low temperatures in much of the nation has boosted sales of coats and warm clothing. So no surprise that Department Stores selling those items were big winners in january. Kohls, nordstrom, and macys all posted double digit sales increases. If you are trying to clear winter goods that didnt sell over the holidays, the cold snap is a big help. We had a bunch of weather events cold, wet, snow, ice, so things are selling out even if theyve been marked down. Thats really cleaning out inventory that needs to get out before the spring. Reporter but to be fair, there was also a quirk of the calendar that gave many big retailers a fiftythird week in their fiscal year. That meant an extra week of sales in january. But spending i
Snow storm that could cripple the east coast. Some forecasters say this could be the blizzard of the century with record amounts of snow and extremely strong winds. In parts of the northeast, transportation was shut down. The governors of massachusetts and connecticut declared a state of emergency and banned car travel, Train Service and cancelled flights in and out of boston. While the worst of the storm has yet to hit, many businesses and cities were busy making preparations today. Erika miller reports. Reporter this monstrous storm is already being compared to the great blizzard of 78, when vast amounts of snow blanketed the ohio valley and the great lakes. That storm lasted 36 hours, leaving cars stranded. This storm could also be historic. Weather forecasters predict it will leave up to three feet of snow in a wide swath stretching from new york to boston. Preparations are well underway. Airlines cancelled nearly 4,500 flights, leaving many travelers stranded. Here at laguardia, a