Eideard

Daylife/Reuters Pictures

The US consumer is in full-scale retreat, retailers confirmed, as dire sales figures confirmed a bleak outlook for the peak shopping season.

Major retailers such as Macy’s, Abercrombie & Fitch and GAP reported sales declines of more than 10% in November. Retail figures are a bellwether for the US economy with consumer spending accounting for more than two-thirds of economic activity. Shops hoped that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year, would jump-start consumer outlay but industry experts were downbeat.

“The American consumer is a train wreck,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a New York-based retail consultancy. “We don’t know when it is going to get good but I think the worst is yet to come. The results are terrible and will continue to be terrible.”

The best performer today was Wal-Mart, which beat expectations with a 3.4% sales rise at stores that had been open more than a year. The world’s largest retailer added some gloss to the ICSC’s figures. Without Wal-Mart’s contribution, November sales would have fallen 7.7%.

The worst performers among individual retailers included Limited Brands, owner of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie stores, which saw a 12% fall in like-for-like sales. Target, a close Wal-Mart competitor, posted a 10.4% decline and Abercrombie & Fitch, the clothing retailer, said sales fell 28% as it refused to join competitors in aggressive discounting.

The strongest and sharpest retailers will take tough times like this to step on the face of their competitors. You don’t think Wal-Mart hasn’t noticed the mediocre numbers for Target?

He said, “Look – we’re just like Apple, right now. Cash in the bank and no debt.”