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Even in their worst nightmares, retailers could not have imagined such an apocalyptic loss of sales in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic that’s left many companies just struggling to survive.
Read:Retail sales plunge record 8.7% as coronavirus crisis freezes U.S. economy
Sales at clothing stores tumbled a record 50% in March alone, when states did not begin to order most stores closed until the last two weeks of the month.
Record sales declines of 20% or more also slammed auto dealers, restaurants, department stores, and outlets that sell sporting goods, books, music and other hobby items.
The one category of retailers to clean up were grocers. Americans swamped local chains and mom-and-pop stores to hoarded toilet paper and other essential items. Sales soared a record 27%.
“The only real winners were grocery stores, who benefited by the frenzied spending by shoppers who stocked up in anticipation of an extended lockdown,” said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
Some economists predict grocery sales will fall back to earth in April after an initial burst of stocking up. Social distancing rules have forced grocers to limit how many people are in the store at once.
Yet Americans are eating more at home and groceries are the one segment of the retail industry that’s virtually bulletproof in any kind of downturn. And the stocks of the largest publicly traded grocers reflect that reality.
Shares of one of the industry’s leaders, Kroger KR, -1.83% remain near a 52-week high even as most other U.S. stocks have sustained deep losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -2.51% , on the other hand, has lost 18% of its value this year.
