Research >> Economics
ICSC Chain Store Sales up 0.1% in May 8 Wk
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Warm weather and Mother’s Day acted as a sales catalyst giving retailers a slight rebound in sales this past week. For the week ending May 8, weekly sales rose by 0.1 percent, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs weekly sales index. On a year-over-year basis sales remained positive and healthy at 4.3 percent.
“Sales edged up during the first week of the May fiscal month as warm weather in the South and East helped to drive seasonal demands, as well as Mother’s Day acting as a catalyst for traffic,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC director of research and chief economist. “During the latest week, the ICSC-Goldman Sachs customer tracking survey found strong year-over-year traffic at apparel-specialty stores, discounters and department stores — though the pace was a tad softer for department stores than in previous weeks. Although there will likely be another calendar quirk to deal with for the May fiscal month, the underlying pace of demand continues to be healthy. For the month of May, ICSC Research expects sales will increase by approximately 3.5 percent,” Niemira added.
Posted: May 11, 2010 Tuesday 07:45 AM