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RAPAPORT... U.S. chain-store sales rose 1.7 percent year on year for the week that ended on January 4, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. However, week-to-week comparable-store sales plunged 5.4 percent. “The final week of the fiscal month of December was soft as year-end ‘statistical noise’ was accentuated by adverse weather conditions in the Midwest and East, which hindered shopping over the past week,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC's vice president of research and chief economist. “Comparable-store sales for the month—based on the small sample of monthly reporting firms -- are likely to increase by 4 percent to 4.5 percent, when retailers report their monthly sales figures on Thursday, January 9, 2014. This is somewhat above our earlier expectation as Walgreen’s already reported a very strong December performance.” ICSC Research anticipates that December's chain-store sales will reflect an increase of 3 percent to 4 percent. The weekly chain-store sales snapshot is produced by ICSC and Goldman Sachs to measure U.S. nominal same-store, or comparable-store, sales while excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly sales index is presented on an adjusted basis to account for normal seasonal and other data anomalies.
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