New York, NY, June 27, 2006--Retail sales slipped 0.4% for the week ended June 24 compared with the prior week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities released on Tuesday.
Sales were up 4.1% verses the year-ago period.
For the month, the ICSC, expects same-store sales for the nation's chain stores to rise 2.5% to 3% for the month of June. Same-store sales measure sales at stores open at least one year.
Summer arrived last week, but the onset of those lazy, hazy days of summer did little to spur nationwide consumer spending," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
Warm weather in the western United States drove demand for seasonal items while stormy weather drove some consumers to the malls in the east to escape adverse weather, Niemira added.
