Upscale retailer Nordstrom Inc. says strong sales at its Westfarms department store and other locations in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest pushed sales up 16.8 percent in March, much higher than analysts expected, The Associated Press reports.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, on average, expected sales in stores open at least one year to rise 10.6 percent.
Sales at stores open at least a year are a key measure of retailer performance because they measure growth at existing stores rather than from newly opened ones.
Nordstrom’s total sales for five weeks ended April 3 soared 20.9 percent to $815 million from $674 million in the same period last year.
The strongest regions were the Northeast, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, Nordstrom said. California stores were improving but below average. Best-selling merchandise categories were fashion jewelry, dresses and women’s shoes, the company said in a prerecorded sales call.
The average number of transactions grew for the seventh month in a row.
So far this year, sales in stores open at least one year are up 14.2 percent while total sales are up 18.3 percent to $1.35 billion.
Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. runs 113 full-line stores, and 76 Nordstrom Rack and other stores.
