Chain Store Sales Equal Last Two Months

New York, NY, Aug. 18, 2009--Weekly chain store sales in the U.S. for the week that ended Aug. 15 were 0.6 percent lower than one year ago, but basically little changed from the past two months.

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs released their weekly sales snapshot, which noted that back-to-school promotions and local sales tax holidays are beginning to wind down.

“Consumers remained cautious with their spending,” said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist.

“Even with the recent bout of summer weather, which may have been helpful to clear summer merchandise, those items were heavily marked down and really did not help reported sales. Overall sales for August continue to face headwinds and, with that, ICSC Research continues to expect the month’s performance will be down between 3.5 to 4 percent,” Niemira added.