NRF June retail sales rise as consumer demand stays resilient

National Retail Federation said June core retail sales rose 0.36% from May and 10.08% from a year earlier, extending a nine-month run of gains. Total retail sales excluding autos and gas rose 0.33% month over month and 9.41% year over year, a pace NRF said was helped by weak comparisons with June 2025.

For Big Lots workers, the more important detail is where shoppers kept spending. NRF’s June sector table tracked nine categories, including general merchandise, furniture and home furnishings, electronics and appliances, clothing and accessories, grocery and beverage, and building and garden supply stores. Those are the kinds of aisles where value, not novelty, usually decides whether a customer adds another item to the cart.

That fits a summer selling season built around promotion-heavy traffic. Matthew Shay said consumers took advantage of summer sales events and got an early jump on back-to-school shopping. NRF said about one-third of back-to-school shoppers had already started browsing and buying by early June, the highest level since the organization began asking the question in 2018. That kind of behavior favors retailers that can show an immediate savings story and convert a visit quickly, especially on discretionary items where shoppers are comparing price tags more closely.

Big Lots has been working through a major reset while that demand pattern plays out. The chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024. In December 2024, Big Lots agreed to a sale transaction facilitated by Gordon Brothers that transferred assets, including stores, distribution centers and intellectual property, to other retailers and companies, including Variety Wholesalers. Variety Wholesalers had reopened 219 Big Lots stores by June 5, 2025, across Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.

That leaves store teams in a value-first environment where the basics carry more weight than ever. Clear markdowns, fast in-stock execution and promotions that prove the savings immediately are what move the customer from browsing to buying. NRF’s 2026 forecast for 4.4% retail sales growth, to more than $5.6 trillion, points to a consumer who is still spending, but only when the deal is easy to see.