New York, NY, November 30--Chain store retail sales were off 1.5 percent in the week ended November 27, compared with a 0.8 percent rise 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 growth slowed to 2.4 percent after a 3.9 percent rise the preceding week.
"As the 'traditional' holiday selling season got underway on Friday, consumers headed to those retailers who provided promotions and discounts," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
"It appears that sales on Black Friday were strong, weakened on Saturday and posted a moderate gain on Sunday. Given that only six percent of consumers have completed their holiday shopping thus far, there still is a considerable amount of holiday shopping yet to be done," he said.
"As a result of the recent weakness in sales, ICSC has lowered its monthly sales expectations to 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent from 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent for November, on a year-over-year basis," 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.
