New York, September 28--Chain store retail sales saw a slight decline of 0.3 percent on a week-over-week basis. However, on a year-over-year basis, the sales momentum remained strong at 3.5 percent, a report said on Tuesday.
Sales fell by 0.3 percent in the week ended September 25, compared with a 1.1 percent decline in the previous week, the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS said in a joint report. Compared with the same week a year ago, sales rose, 3.5 percent keeping pace from the 3.5 percent rise the preceding week.
"Though sales on a week-over-week basis declined, the overall sales pace continues to hold up and remain positive," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
"As we begin the last week of September, we continue to face tough year-over-year comparisons with September 2003. Despite this fact, we do expect sales to grow by approximately 2.0 percent to 3.0 percent on a year-over-year basis by the end of the month," Niemira added.
The ICSC-UBS Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is compiled from a group of major discount, department and chain stores across the country that report their weekly results.
