NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- There may be more behind the recent spate of disappointing U.S. retail sales numbers than simply piles of snow in mall parking lots and frigid temperatures keeping shoppers away.

"Customers are buying other things -- cable services, Netflix (NFLX) - Get Report," Macy's (M) - Get Report CFO Karen Hoguet said at an investor conference Tuesday morning. "It's still an issue," she added, citing disappointing sales in her company's internal measurement of general merchandise sales.  

February retail sales in the U.S. declined 0.6% as reported earlier this month, significantly below estimates for a 0.3% increase. Excluding volatile sales at gas stations and auto dealers, February sales dropped 0.2%, and sales for January were revised lower to show a decline of 0.1% vs. a previously reported 0.1% gain. 

Analysts have been expecting to see healthier spending from U.S. consumers as the unemployment rate falls, salaries increase and gas prices plummet. 

But Macy's doesn't believe consumption patterns are 100% to blame for underwhelming retail sales. The strong dollar is also at play. "The international tourist is not getting better either and it's impacting major markets," Hoguet said. By 11:27 a.m. ET on Tuesday, Macy's stock was trading at $65.76, a decline of about .05% so far for the year. 

Roughly 20 million people, many of them foreign tourists, shop at Macy's flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square, and reports have claimed it pulls in about $1 billion a year, which would represent about 4% of the company's total sales. 

Likewise, high-end jeweler Tiffany & Co. (TIF) - Get Report has a 45,000-square-foot flagship store on Fifth Avenue that represents about 8% of the company's annual sales. In 2014, that racked up to about $339 million.

"The strong U.S. dollar had a minimal negative translation effect on the Americas' sales, but is having an adverse effect on foreign tourists spending in the U.S., especially in New York," said Tiffany & Co. spokesman Mark Aaron on a earnings call on Friday. He added, "We expect to see a continuation of that substantial headwind from the strong dollar in 2015."  

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.