holiday-quarter sales at selected major retailers
Most, but not all, retailers rely on the holiday season for a significant chunk of their sales. To get a better sense of how important the holidays are, or aren’t, we analyzed more than five years’ worth of quarterly financial data from 20 major retail companies, running the gamut from Wal-Mart and Family Dollar to Coach and Ralph Lauren. Since most retailers’ fiscal years don’t align with the calendar year, we adjusted each company’s data to map the fiscal quarter that included the holidays onto the fourth quarter of each calendar year.
How Important ls the Holiday Quarter'  | % of2013 sales by quarter  | Q1  | Q2  | Q4  | Game Stop 21%  | 15%  | 23%  | 41%  | L Brands 21  | 23  | 20 23 22 23 23 25 27 23 24  | 35  | Amazon 22  | 21  | 34  | 22 23  | 33 32 32 32 31  | Macy's 23  | Tiffany & Co. 22  | 23  | Kohl's  | 22  | 23 21  | Abercrombie & Fitch  | 20  | Bames & Noble 20  | 30  | 26  | 22  | Nordstrom  | 24  | Target 23  | 30  | 25 23 24 23 25 25 25 24  | 23 25 25 27 25  | Coach  | 29  | 24  | 23  | T Maxx  | 28  | The Gap 23  | 28  | 28  | Ralph Lauren  | 23  | 28  | Bed Bath & Beyond 23  | 24 23  | 27 27  | Wal-Mart 24  | Ross  | 25  | Family Dollar 25  | 24  | 26  | 25  | Dollar General 24  | 25  | 26  | Ann Taylor 23  | 26  | 26  | 25  | Notes: Notes: Figures for Wal Mart exclude membership  | revenue; figures for Ra lph Lauren exclude licensing revenue;  | figures for Nordstrom exclude credit-card revenue.  | Source: Company re ports; Pew Research Ce nter ana lysis  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 