Chain Store Sales Grow Slowly in September

Washington, DC, Oct. 10, 2008--U.S. chain store sales rose at the slowest pace in seven years in September as consumers retrenched in the face of a global financial crisis and ailing economy, an industry group said Thursday.

The International Council of Shopping Centers said that chain-store sales rose by 1.0 percent from a year ago on a same-store basis.

"This was the weakest sales growth of any September since 2001 when the industry was in a recession and facing the aftermath of 9/11," the terror attacks in the US, said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist.

The Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in New York and Washington triggered a pullback in consumer spending, resulting in September chain-store sales growth of 0.9 percent.

Although hurricanes dented some chains' performance last month, "the primary story retailers cited for the September sales weakness was the financial crisis and the economy," the ICSC said.