Wal-Mart reported that U.S. same-store sales (stores open for more than a year) dropped by 1.4% for the first quarter, although overall sales rose 10% from a year ago.  Several different news sources reported on this although the Wall Street Journal was one of the few to look at the numbers from a slightly different perspective.

Carving out just the sales figures for the U.S., the WSJ suggested that perhaps sales were down due to an improving economy and not due to a poor economy.  Reports that other retailers are reporting higher first quarter sales fall in line with this angle (Nordstrom income jumped 44% in Q1).  When sales figures are reported it is difficult to form a well-guided opinion without the benefit of the sales figures for the rest of the industry.  Sort of makes one think about the political ads that use sound bytes of opponents, doesn’t it?

In any event, it will be difficult to ascertain the true reason why same-store sales are down for Wal-Mart until some time has passed and we can look in our rear-view mirror.  I suspect that the WSJ is more correct than other reports.