BIGresearch's October Retail Ratings; Wal-Mart on Top for Women's Clothing

Macy's and Old Navy Show Biggest Growth Year Over Year for Women Shoppers

Wal-Mart continued to be the place more consumers shop for women's clothing in October according to the latest BIGresearch Retail Ratings Report. Wal-Mart had an overall share of 18% of consumers who said they shop there most often for women's clothing. That represented a slight decline of less than 1% from October 2004 (18.29%). Wal-Mart showed their biggest growth among shoppers with incomes over $50,000.

However, when it comes to where women buy their clothing most often Wal-Mart had a 24.4% share up 0.2% from October 2004 and a consumer equity index of 100.98 (The index measures growth in share year over year). Macy's showed the biggest share increase for women shoppers with an increase from 1.2% in October 2004 to 2.1% for October 2005 and a consumer equity index of 174.73. Old Navy was second with a consumer equity index of 131.99 achieved by increasing their share of women shoppers from 1.7% in October 2004 to 2.2% in October 2005. Others whose equity indexes showed growth (indexed above 100) were Ross, JC Penney, Kohl's, Target and Lane Bryant. Sears and Kmart indexes declined in October 2005.

The year over year shares and consumer equity indexes for women shoppers of women's clothing are:

Women Shoppers
            Share      Share      Share
Store       Oct. 2004  Oct. 2005  +/-     CEI
-----        -----      -----    -----    -----
Macy's        1.2%       2.1%     0.9     174.73
Old Navy      1.7%       2.2%     0.5     131.19
WalMart      24.2%      24.4%     0.2     100.98
Ross          1.5%       1.7%     0.2     114.97
JC Penney     6.6%       6.7%     0.1     101.44
Kohls         6.1%       6.2%     0.1     101.44
Target        3.3%       3.3%     0.0     100.20
Lane Bryant   2.2%       2.2%     0.0     100.03
Sears         2.4%       1.8%    -0.6      75.15
Kmart         2.9%       2.0%    -0.9      69.53

About BIGresearch

BIGresearch is a market intelligence firm providing analysis of consumer behavior in areas of retail, financial services, automotive, and media. Over 8000 consumers participate in the monthly Consumer Intentions and Actions report which is also the basis for the monthly Retail Ratings Report.

BIGresearch's methodology provides the most accurate consumer information in the industry with a margin of error of 1 percent. Complimentary findings are available at: www.bigresearch.com.

Distributed by Market Wire