Unexpected Snow May Hinder Sales

Retailers in the Northeast are cringing at the snow storm forecast that they believe may limit shoppers from taking advantage of the last week of shopping before the holidays. Over two-thirds of consumers have yet to complete their holiday shopping, leaving retailers to expect a last minute shopping rampage that now may not be as big as they hoped.

For many, Super Saturday (the Saturday before Christmas) is the biggest shopping day of the year; however, with the heaviest snow predicted to fall on this day, Super Saturday may be moved to Sunday. On the other hand, many consumers may search online for big deals in order to avoid the weather, which could potentially be beneficial for stores with well known online access.

J.Crew (NYSE: JCG) and Urban Outfitters (NASDAQ: URBN) both have a significant percentage of their sales from online traffic - 30% and 18% respectively - and may benefit from the bad weather if it leads consumers to online stores. However, only time will tell the true result of this weekend's snow storm.

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