Three retailers with an online advantage

Article Excerpt

More consumers are shopping online instead of in stores. That trend has forced some book and music stores to close and is putting pressure on electronics chains, like Best Buy, and sellers of office and computer equipment, like Staples. Even so, most consumers still prefer to shop for clothes in stores, where they can try them on before buying. That’s a plus for the three retailers below. Moreover, all three continue to invest heavily in e-commerce and make it easier for shoppers to pick up their online orders in stores. That helps them compete with big Internet sellers like Amazon.com. MACY’S INC. $60 (New York symbol M, Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 353.1 million; Market cap: $21.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.8; Dividend yield: 2.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Average; www.macysinc.com) operates 840 Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores in 45 states. The company is benefiting from its strategy of tailoring its merchandise to local tastes. It’s also doing a good job…