Chain Store Sales Off Last Week

New York, NY, December 4, 2007--Chain-store sales were off 2% for the week of December 1, compared with the prior week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities.

Sales for the with same week a year ago were up 3.1%.

"This week is traditionally a difficult week to seasonally adjust so we should be careful not to over interpret the week's performance," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist.

 ICSC estimated retailers increased their same-store sales by 2.5% for the month of November. Final results will be released Thursday.