U.S. retail sales cool in May

U.S. retailers are reporting tepid business in May after cool weather and fresh concerns about the economy had shoppers cutting spending on clothing and other nonessentials.

It was the second straight month of underwhelming sales numbers, after April's figures also failed to inspire confidence.

Based on reports from 11 retailers out of 28 tracked by Thomson Reuters, 60 per cent came in ahead of expectations, while 40 per cent fell short.

A mix of stores found business challenging during the month. Department store chain Stage Stores Inc. and teen merchant Wet Seal Inc. both reported declines in revenue at stores open at least a year.

Costco Wholesale Corp., despite a nine per cent gain in same-store sales, fell short of Wall Street analyst expectations of a 9.7 per cent gain in sales in the key metric at locations open at least a year.

Clothier Limited Brands Inc. topped the 2.1 per cent expectation with a five per cent same-store sales gain.

Another report from MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse showed that clothing sales at mall-based chains fell last month.

The U.S. Memorial Day holiday falling on the last day of the month, plus cooler weather everywhere but in the northeast part of the country, contributed to the disappointing results, analysts said.