Chain Store Sales Increase Most in Ten Weeks

New York, NY, Dec. 21, 2010 -- Chain-store sales for the week ended December 18 rose 4.2% from the year-earlier period, their best performance in at least ten weeks, according to a survey released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.

On a week-over-week basis, sales gained 1.7%, also the best in at least ten weeks.

“Holiday-gift spending shot up over the last week with 73.9% of consumers, on average, completing their shopping, up from 56.6% in the prior week, which helped to propel weekly sales results up,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist.

“Now that we are down to the wire, consumers have stepped up their shopping pace, as well as their purchases. All and all, retail shopping trends are shaping up to be very favorable for holiday sales, as well as December sales performance, for retailers.”

ICSC forecast December same-store sales to rise between 3% and 3.5%.