Business

Retail execs fret over Feb.

The payroll tax increases and delayed tax returns that Wal-Mart Stores execs blamed in internal e-mails for weak February sales may be poised to hurt other retailers as well.

“It’s not Wal-Mart specific,” David Strasser, an analyst for Janney Montgomery Scott, said yesterday.

Family Dollar, Target and supermarkets are encountering similar effects, he said.