Wedbush: Nordstrom, Macy's Attracted Traffic In December

According to Morry Brown of Wedbush, both Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN) and Macy's, Inc. (NYSE: M) attracted high levels of traffic throughout December following promotional activity that stole traffic away from specialty retailers.

Brown commented in a note over the weekend that store checks and first-hand observations led to the conclusion that department stores has seen consistently high traffic levels” since November. The analyst states that this was due to increased levels of price matching, gift assortments and various promotional activities.

Brown singled out a promotion at Macy's where customers earned Macy's Money throughout December 9 to 12, redeemable December 16 to 18. The analyst notes that store managers told him the promotion was successful in bringing customers back to purchase more items.

“We believe the elevated amount of discounting and price matching year over year on contemporary apparel pulled sales away from specialty women's retailers, but we also saw that inventory was not moving without a promotion,” Brown wrote. The analyst adds that Nordstrom's “aggressive promotional tactic” has been working well through December, but “we are concerned about their ability to shift back to a full-price model after holiday and keep customers' attention.”