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ICSC Chain Store Sales declined 2.8% in Jun 7 Wk
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After a week-over-week surge in sales two weeks ago, the ICSC-Goldman Sachs (ICSC-GS) chain store sales pace reversed that spike with a 2.8% decline in the latest week ending June 7. However, more importantly, the year-over-year pace remained robust at the start of the five-week June fiscal month. Indeed, if the five-week period holds where the month began, then that would yield the strongest year-over-year gain in the ICSC-GS index on a fiscal-month average basis since January 2013. According to the ICSC-GS consumer tracking survey, business at most retail segments was up relative to the same week of the prior year. There was outstanding sector strength this past week in wholesale clubs, furniture stores, dollar stores and noteworthy gains among the drug, discount, electronics, office and apparel store segments.
According to Weather Trends International (WTI), the U.S. average national temperature was 2.4F warmer than last year and 2.7F warmer than its long-term normal average for the week ending on Saturday. WTI (wxtrends.com) observed that there was "a taste of summer" in the country's weather patterns over the past week with the third warmest start to that comparable week in more than 23 years, which should have helped lift summer-merchandise demand. Coincidentally, gasoline prices followed a similar two-week pattern to the weekly sales volatility, going up one week and reversing the rise in the subsequent week.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the nationwide average price of a gallon of regular-grade unleaded gasoline at the pump declined marginally (-1.6 cents per gallon) on June 9 compared with the price per gallon in the previous week and up less than one percent from the same week of the prior year.
Posted: June 10, 2014 Tuesday 07:45 AM