Lowe’s May Gain as Stir-Crazy Irene Victims Crowd Starbucks

Home-improvement stores selling emergency supplies and coffee shops providing a break from the cleanup may benefit from Hurricane Irene, while department stores shut because of flooding likely lost sales.

The storm may have reduced apparel retailers’ comparable-store sales by 0.5 percent or less for the month as consumers stayed home during the critical back-to-school shopping season, Jennifer Davis, an analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, said today in an e-mail. Grocery stores, drug stores and big-box retailers likely benefited, she said.