Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week. TJX Corporation Inc., an off price apparel chain, reported a 16 percent sales increase in the four weeks ended Feb. 27 from a year earlier. "We achieved these sales despite the harsh snowstorms that affected many regions in the country," said Sherry Lang, vice president for investors, in a teleconference on . "The month ended on a stronger note than we had anticipated.". Figures last week that showed the economy lost fewer jobs than anticipated last month signal employment is on the verge of accelerating, a development that would spur spending in coming months. 
Share:  <span class="sent">Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week. <span class="company">TJX</span> Corporation Inc., an off price apparel chain, reported a 16 percent sales increase in the four weeks ended Feb. 27 from a year earlier.</span> "We achieved these sales despite the harsh snowstorms that affected many regions in the country," said Sherry Lang, vice president for investors, in a teleconference on . "The month ended on a stronger note than we had anticipated.". Figures last week that showed the economy lost fewer jobs than anticipated last month signal employment is on the verge of accelerating, a development that would spur spending in coming months. Tweet this 

Chain stores turned in a better than forecast performance last month, compared with a low point last year, industry figures showed last week. Macy's Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Gap Inc beat analysts' estimates in February as holiday sales tempted consumers to go shopping in a month of record snowfalls. February comparable store sales climbed 4.1 percent, topping the Retail Metrics 3 percent estimate. It was the sixth straight monthly gain and the biggest in 27 months. Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week. 
Share:  Chain stores turned in a better than forecast performance last month, compared with a low point last year, industry figures showed last week. <span class="company">Macy's</span> Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Gap Inc beat analysts' estimates in February as holiday sales tempted consumers to go shopping in a month of record snowfalls. February comparable store sales climbed 4.1 percent, topping the Retail Metrics 3 percent estimate. It was the sixth straight monthly gain and the biggest in 27 months.<span class="sent"> Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week.</span> Tweet this 

Chain stores turned in a better than forecast performance last month, compared with a low point last year, industry figures showed last week. Macy's Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Gap Inc beat analysts' estimates in February as holiday sales tempted consumers to go shopping in a month of record snowfalls. February comparable store sales climbed 4.1 percent, topping the Retail Metrics 3 percent estimate. It was the sixth straight monthly gain and the biggest in 27 months. Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week. 
Share:  Chain stores turned in a better than forecast performance last month, compared with a low point last year, industry figures showed last week. Macy's Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co and <span class="company">Gap</span> Inc beat analysts' estimates in February as holiday sales tempted consumers to go shopping in a month of record snowfalls. February comparable store sales climbed 4.1 percent, topping the Retail Metrics 3 percent estimate. It was the sixth straight monthly gain and the biggest in 27 months.<span class="sent"> Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week.</span> Tweet this 

Chain stores turned in a better than forecast performance last month, compared with a low point last year, industry figures showed last week. Macy's Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch Co and Gap Inc beat analysts' estimates in February as holiday sales tempted consumers to go shopping in a month of record snowfalls. February comparable store sales climbed 4.1 percent, topping the Retail Metrics 3 percent estimate. It was the sixth straight monthly gain and the biggest in 27 months. Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week. 
Share:  Chain stores turned in a better than forecast performance last month, compared with a low point last year, industry figures showed last week. Macy's Inc., <span class="company">Abercrombie</span> & Fitch Co and Gap Inc beat analysts' estimates in February as holiday sales tempted consumers to go shopping in a month of record snowfalls. February comparable store sales climbed 4.1 percent, topping the Retail Metrics 3 percent estimate. It was the sixth straight monthly gain and the biggest in 27 months.<span class="sent"> Purchases fell 4.1 percent in , <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said last week.</span> Tweet this 

It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. Abercrombie & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while Macy's Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain. "The consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview. 
Share:  It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. <span class="company">Abercrombie</span> & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while Macy's Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain.<span class="sent"> "The consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview.</span> Tweet this 

It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. Abercrombie & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while Macy's Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain. "The consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview. 
Share:  It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. Abercrombie & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while <span class="company">Macy</span>'s Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain.<span class="sent"> "The consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview.</span> Tweet this 

It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. Abercrombie & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while Macy's Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain."The consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview. 
Share:  It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. <span class="company">Abercrombie</span> & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while Macy's Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain."The<span class="sent"> consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview.</span> Tweet this 

It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. Abercrombie & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while Macy's Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain."The consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview. 
Share:  It was the sixth straight gain and the biggest in 27 months. Abercrombie & Fitch Co said yesterday that sales rose 5 percent, while <span class="company">Macy</span>'s Inc., the second biggest U. S department store company, reported a 3.7 percent gain."The<span class="sent"> consumer is starting to come out of hibernation and feel better about their situation," <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts based Retail Metrics, said yesterday in an interview.</span> Tweet this 

The nation's retailers turned in a strong performance in February, at least compared with a year ago, despite a string of snowstorms that disrupted shopping and a persistent high unemployment rate. Nearly all retailers, including Little Rock based Dillard's Inc., improved sales, and many beat retail analysts' forecasts. The International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group, reported an overall 3.7 percent gain in February sales in stores open at least a year for the 31 retailchains it tracks. "This was strong enough to open your eyes a little bit. Things are setting up nicely for March," said Ken Perkins, who runs the research firm Retail Metrics Inc in Swampscott, Mass. 
Share:  The nation's retailers turned in a strong performance in February, at least compared with a year ago, despite a string of snowstorms that disrupted shopping and a persistent high unemployment rate. Nearly all retailers, including Little Rock based <span class="company">Dillard's</span> Inc., improved sales, and many beat retail analysts' forecasts. The International Council of Shopping Centers, a trade group, reported an overall 3.7 percent gain in February sales in stores open at least a year for the 31 retailchains it tracks. "This was strong enough to open your eyes a little bit.<span class="sent"> Things are setting up nicely for March," said <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, who runs the research firm Retail Metrics Inc in Swampscott, Mass.</span> Tweet this 

With the exception of drugstores, every sector — including discounters, department stores and apparel sellers — did better than forecasts. Among individual retailers, more than three fourths outperformed expectations, including Ross Stores Inc., Nordstrom and Abercrombie & Fitch."Given the snowstorms and barrage of negative economic data last week, it was a bit of a surprise how strong the sales were this month," said Ken Perkins, president of research company Retail Metrics Inc. "I think the retailers have to be pleasantly surprised and are hopeful that this is the tip of an increasing wave of consumer spending.". Still, many industry watchers caution that economic problems persist and could hamper consumer spending. Fresh U. S unemployment data is due out today, for instance."Although some numbers are certainly very good, they're inflated or helped along by very weak sales a year ago," said Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research at SpendingPulse, an information service of MasterCard Advisors, which also tracks retail spending. 
Share:  With the exception of drugstores, every sector — including discounters, department stores and apparel sellers — did better than forecasts.<span class="sent"> Among individual retailers, more than three fourths outperformed expectations, including Ross Stores Inc., Nordstrom and <span class="company">Abercrombie</span> & Fitch."Given the snowstorms and barrage of negative economic data last week, it was a bit of a surprise how strong the sales were this month," said <span class="analyst">Ken Perkins</span>, president of research company Retail Metrics Inc. "I think the retailers have to be pleasantly surprised and are hopeful that this is the tip of an increasing wave of consumer spending.".</span> Still, many industry watchers caution that economic problems persist and could hamper consumer spending. Fresh U. S unemployment data is due out today, for instance."Although some numbers are certainly very good, they're inflated or helped along by very weak sales a year ago," said Kamalesh Rao, director of economic research at SpendingPulse, an information service of MasterCard Advisors, which also tracks retail spending. Tweet this