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11/05/2010 -
Among the large discount store chains, sales were in flux during April, Forbes reports. Costco experienced an 11 percent increase in April, but when excluding gasoline prices and international currency impact, that increase was actually 4 percent. Rival BJ's Wholesale Club saw a 4.6 percent April rise, but only 0.8 percent when subtracting gasoline. Big Lots' same-store sales grew 6 percent and 8 percent overall to $1.22 billion last month. The only store chain to lose ground was Target, which slipped 5.9 percent and fell further than analysts had anticipated.
These numbers for the major chains show correlation to the overall slow in retail sales during April, after a record jump in March. In all, April retail sales grew by 0.5 percent from the previous year. March's record saw a 9.1 percent increase, according to CNN.
Despite the slim increase, the increase in payment processing was the eighth straight monthly gain. As a comparison, in February, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian retail sales grew to $36 billion, the third straight month of increase.
