"If it's anything like the Gulf War, if people react the same way, it's going to affect sales because people will stay home and watch the war on TV, as they did back in 1991," said Ira Kaplan, chief financial officer of the fashion retailer Claire's Stores Inc, in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
When Operation Desert Storm began in January 1991, retail sales fell 2.2 percent during the month. That was the largest decline since January 1987.
Commerce Department statisticians said the report included changes to its usual process of making seasonal adjustments so that the numbers would reflect the effect of Sept. 11.
Sales that took place before 1992 can't be verified. The Commerce Department switched to a new method for computing retail sales figures this year and revised the data back to February 1992.
Department stores fell 1.6 percent after showing no change in August. Sales at clothing and accessory stores fell 5.9 percent last month after a 0.9 percent decrease in August.
Sales of electronics, appliances, furniture, building material and garden supplies all fell after rising in August.
Car dealers also suffered as their sales fell 4.6 percent last month. Total sales fell 2.8 percent in September at General Motors and dropped 9.7 percent at Ford Motor Co, compared with September 2000, the companies reported previously.
Sales at restaurants and bars decreased 5.1 percent last month after rising 1.2 percent in August, Friday's report showed.
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