|
RAPAPORT... U.S. chain-store sales rose 2.3 percent year on year for the week that ended on November 9, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs. On a week-to-week basis, comparable-store sales increased 1.2 percent.
“Sales picked up in the first week of the November sales period as cold weather, lower gasoline prices, an easy comparisons with the Hurricane Sandy [impact one year ago] and likely some improving employment news all coming together to spur demand," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's vice president of research and chief economist. “But even with that said, the ICSC-Goldman consumer holiday tracking survey found that consumers may be holding off their Christmas shopping a bit relative to the last two years at the comparable time, possibly waiting for this year’s Thanksgiving week promotions.”
ICSC Research anticipates that November's chain-store sales will reflect an increase of 3.5 percent to 4.5 percent, in large part due to an easy year-on-year comparison. 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.
|