Department Stores continue to struggle with consumer spend shifts. Each Department Store is using one of or all of the following strategies: 1) lower the number of stores; 2) shrink the size of go-forward stores; 3) invest in internet fulfillment; 4) brands vs. exclusive private labels as a differentiator. Here are some of the tidbits from last week's calls along with the results from the last 7 quarters comp sale results:

JC Penney

Comp was down 3.5%, the worst drop in several years.
Big ticket items that were driving previous quarter comp sales are making incremental growth difficult.
75% of online orders touch a store.
Management still believes the total year comps will be down 1% to up 1%.

Kohl's

Comp was down 2.7%, the fifth consecutive quarter with a negative comp and second highest negative comp (Q1 2016 of -3.9%).
90% of stores are freestanding or in strip malls providing Kohl's more flexibility for fulfillment of online orders than mall based retailers
Strong investments in logistics with a 5th internet distribution center opening
Strong national brands are the merchandise focus.
Management still believes the total year comps will be flat to down 2%.

Macy's

Overall comp of owned and licensed was down 4.6% and on an owned basis down 5.2%. This is the second worst comp in last 7 quarters (Q1 2016 of -5.6%).
Bluemercury continues to be a strong point for Macy's posting double-digit comp growth.
Believe that the 100 store closures is enough but open to offload real estate where value outweighs the business.
Exclusive private label brands are the merchandise focus.
Management still believes the total year comps will be down only 2-3%.

Nordstrom Rack & Nordstrom

Nordstrom Rack is still positive but came in light posting a 2.3% comp. Last time the business posted a comp below 3% was Q3 2015. Online business was only up 19% vs previous year quarterly growth of 42%.
Full line store comp was down 6.4% with the total comp (includes online) down 2.8%.
100% of stores are still cash flow positive despite the continued weakness in same store sales.