Research >> Economics
ICSC Chain Store Sales rose 1.0% in Sept 8 Wk
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The ICSC‐Goldman Sachs (ICSC‐GS) chain store sales index for the week ending September 8 rose smartly by 1.0% from the prior week, although its year‐over‐year momentum moderated to 3.4%. The ICSC‐GS consumer tracking survey found that overall customer traffic was stronger during this past week with relatively steady (and healthy) demand at apparel stores, department stores and discounters, but much stronger demand at grocery stores and wholesale clubs. Drug stores, however, were considerably weaker, according to the tracking survey.
Weather was not particularly favorable during the past week for fall merchandise demand (even as Christmas merchandise already was spotted at some stores). According to Weather Trends, Inc. (WTI) the U.S. average nationwide temperature was a hefty 5.1°F warmer than last year and 4.3°F above normal. WTI observed, “Thanks to the remains of Hurricane Isaac, the eastern half of the nation saw a very warm and muggy week. It was actually the warmest second week of retail September in [more than] 21 years, which was a huge drag on early fall [merchandise] demand resulting in a 10% to 20% decrease in demand. [However,] a cold front by the end of the week did bring a shot of cool air into the North Central states and a pick up in fall category demand by Saturday.”
Meanwhile, gasoline prices at the pump continued to move higher over the last week ‐‐ though at a slower pace than in recent weeks ‐‐ and is still draining discretionary purchasing power. The U.S. average regular‐grade gasoline price posted its tenth consecutive increase and rose by 0.4 cents per gallon to $3.847 on September 10, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That was the highest price for regular‐grade since April 23, 2012 ($3.87). Cumulatively, over the past ten weeks, the price of a gallon of regular‐grade gasoline rose by 49.1 cents and, on a year‐over‐year, posted its fifth consecutive increase ‐‐ up 5.1% compared with the same week of the prior year.
Posted: September 11, 2012 Tuesday 07:45 AM