Though July sales were below expectations and the back-to-school shopping season started slowly, retailers say the second half of the year is shaping up to be a positive one.

The Forzani Group Ltd. said Tuesday this year’s back-to-school period got off to a weak start but the national sporting goods retailer recovered and ended up with slightly higher sales volumes than last year.

Meanwhile, consumer product manufacturer Dorel Industries Inc. said the company’s main products–which include child car seats, home furniture and bicycles–have proven resilient in the economic downturn.

“Our price points fit the times,” Dorel chief executive Martin Schwartz said Tuesday at a Scotia Capital conference on consumer trends.

The conference came as Statistics Canada reported that Canadian consumers went into hibernation in July as the value of retail sales fell 0.6% during the month, defying all expectations of a strong pick-up.

The result suggests that it may take some time before nervous Canadian consumers start gaining enough confidence to begin opening up their wallets again, a critical measure needed for the economy to get a badly needed kickstart after three quarters of recession.

Calgary-based Forzani said consolidated same-store sales increased 0.1% for the seven-week period ended Sept. 20. For the first five weeks ended Sept. 8, sales were down 1.1% from their year-earlier comparisons but picked up by 3.6% in the final two weeks.

“These results suggest an improvement from the corporate results reported in our second quarter press release and were, for the most part, expected due to the later return to school in certain corporate markets,” stated chief executive officer Bob Sartor.

Forzani is Canada’s largest national retailer of sporting goods with more than 550 corporate and franchise stores across the country. It operates Sport Chek, Athletes World and Nevada Bob’s Golf among other franchise banners.

At Dorel, Schwartz said tight-fisted consumers are looking for bargains as they seek to stretch their hard-earned dollars in a weak economy.

“Retailers are focusing more on what we term opening- to mid-price points as shoppers of every description are gravitating to the big box outlets,” Schwartz told the conference.

Dorel chief financial officer Jeffrey Schwartz predicted “a solid second half” of 2009 and said he is “extremely bullish for the prospects of 2010 and beyond.”