BJ’s, Costco Report Weak TV Sales Again for July

TVs were among the weakest-selling products in July for BJ’s Wholesale Club and Costco, the companies said Thursday. Target, meanwhile, cited “soft sales in electronics, videogames, music and movies.” But all three companies still saw increases in overall sales for the month versus July 2009, they said.

Costco “experienced slight negative comparable” store sales for its hardlines when compared to July last year, “primarily due to soft TV sales,” Bob Nelson, vice president of financial planning and investor relations, said in the company’s monthly pre-recorded sales results call.

Costco saw “a slight improvement in July” from May and June, but, Nelson said, “TV units and dollars were down about the same amounts” in July. “Offsetting the softness in TV sales within majors were audio, camera, navigation and cellphone -- all showing positive” comparable sales growth versus July last year, he said. “Computers came in about flat year-over-year,” he said.

Overall Costco sales grew 8 percent to $5.86 billion in the four weeks ended Aug. 1 compared to the same period last year, it said. Comparable store sales grew 4 percent in the U.S., 14 percent in other regions and 6 percent combined. The strongest regions in the U.S. were the Midwest, Texas, Southeast and Northwest, while the strongest regions elsewhere were Canada, South Korea and Taiwan, Nelson said. The cost of the average transaction was “up a little over” 2.5 percent in July versus July 2009, he said.

BJ’s said its sales for the four weeks ended July 31 increased 6.6 percent from July 2009 to $770.3 million. Target’s sales for the four weeks ended July 31 grew 3.8 percent from the four weeks ended Aug. 1, 2009, to $4.585 billion, it said. The results were “in line with expectations,” said CEO Gregg Steinhafel. “We continued to experience soft sales in electronics, videogames, music and movies,” he said.