A quick update on Q2 trading, incorporating retailers that reported over the past week:
🏬 85 retailers reporting: 61 growing; 24 shrinking
💰 Mean average total growth rate: +6.6%
🛍️ Mean comparable growth (among those that report): +3.0%
💵 Weighted comparable growth: +2.3%*
This remains a solid quarter and we've seen, just this week, that retailers executing well can produce fantastic results:
* Five Below: +22.9% revenue (+14.1% comps)
* Victoria's Secret: +10.% revenue (+9.0% comps)
But, on the flip side, consumers are punishing mediocre brands. Take Lululemon's 9% comparable slide (down 12% in the Americas). This isn't a market problem, it's a Lululemon problem. People are happy to spend, but they're spending in a very deliberate and discriminatory manner.
Growth rates are a shade down on last quarter: comp growth at 3.0% versus 3.9% in Q1; total growth at 6.6% versus 7.3% in Q1. But this is a fairly normal modulation, not a massive cause for concern.
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* Weighted comparable growth weights by the size of company revenue; so it's an accurate view of the overall sector comparable growth rate.
Q2 total growth rate for US retailers
