Nordstrom August same-store sales decline

SEATTLE - Luxury retailer Nordstrom Inc. said Thursday that same-store sales fell 7.9 percent, a bigger drop than analysts expected as sales faltered at its full-price stores, but rose at its off-price division.

Same-stores sales dropped 12.5 percent at Nordstrom stores, but rose 7.6 percent at discount Nordstrom Rack stores.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected same-store sales to fall 7.1 percent.

For the four-week period ended Aug. 30, total sales fell 4 percent to $558 million from $582 million last year.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key measure of retailer performance, because it measures growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.

Year-to-date, same-store sales fell 6.4 percent while total sales fell 4 percent to $4.72 billion.

The strongest results were in the South, Northwest and Mid-Atlantic states, the company said in a recorded sales call. The strongest merchandise categories included cosmetics, designer products across all categories and women's specialized apparel, which includes activewear, intimates and hosiery.

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