While January was the worst month for retailers in almost 40 years — according to an article in Advertising Age — the month of March isn't too far behind. A variety of factors including the dwindling economy, weak housing market, high gas, energy and food costs and unseasonably cool weather (and an early Easter holiday) all contributed to the retail sales decline, the National Retail Federation reports.

"Unseasonably cooler weather created a challenging sales environment for many apparel retailers last month," said Rosalind Wells, NRF Chief Economist. "With the earliest Easter in 95 years, the calendar shift will likely impact April sales as well. In order to get a true picture of retail performance, we will need to look at both March and April sales combined."

Some of the retail stores that were impacted the most, as compared to last year, include clothing and clothing accessories (2 percent decrease); electronics and appliances (1 percent decrease); home furnishing (10.2 percent decrease); and home improvement equipment and supplies (9.6 percent decrease).

Ad Age reports that specialty retailers and department stores suffered the biggest sales declines. The stores most affected include: Target (4.4 percent decrease); department stores JC Penny's (12.3 percent decrease) and Kohl's (15.5 percent decrease); luxury retailers Saks Fifth Avenue (2.9 percent decrease), and Nordstrom (9.1 percent decrease); and retailer Gap Inc. (18 percent decrease).

The news isn't all bad, however. NRF reports that health/personal care stores came out on top with sales rising by 2.8 percent as compared to this time last year, and sporting goods shops also increased their sales by 1.5 percent.

So, who's getting all the business? Advertising Age names Costco the sales winner again — it performed well during the 2007 holiday season and it exhibited a 7 percent sales increase in January as compared to the other stores' sharp sales declines. Costco reports that it experienced a 5 percent "climb in March same-store sales at U.S. outlets," on top of a 5 percent gain a year ago.

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--Cassandra P. Foster
cfoster@safnow.org

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