Discounters: CE Sales Slumped In June

By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 7/8/2010

New York - National discount chains saw sales of consumer electronics lag most categories in June.

As the economy and unseasonably warm weather took their toll, room air, along with staples like food, apparel and health care, displaced TVs and PCs at checkout counters.

Among those reporting monthly results, Target said net sales rose 4 percent to $5.9 billion and comp-store sales increased 1.7 percent. But chairman/CEO Gregg Steinhafel cited CE, video games, music and movies as "particularly soft" last month, and said Target will continue to plan its business "cautiously."

Within the warehouse club channel, Costco reported a 7 percent increase in June sales, to $7.3 billion, and a 1 percent gain in U.S. comp-store sales, excluding the positive impact of higher gasoline prices.

Costco said its CE and majap business suffered comp-sale declines due to softness in the TV and computer categories, although the downturn was partially offset by strong room air volume. TV was down equally in dollars and units, attributable to reduced couponing activity, in a scenario Costco has seen for the past several months.

At BJ's Wholesale Club, net revenue rose 7.9 percent to $1.1 billion and comps increased 3.2 percent excluding gasoline. Like Costco, BJ's reported strength in room air, but slackened demand for TVs and computers, as well as pre-recorded video.