New York, NY, May 9, 2006--Chain store sales slipped in the latest week after a strong gain the previous week, according to a report released on Tuesday.
Sales fell 0.4 percent in the week ended May 6, after rising 0.7 percent in the previous week, according to the report produced by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC.
The ICSC said sales rose 3.1 percent last week versus the same week in 2005. In the previous week, sales rose 4.3 percent versus the same week a year earlier.
A significant "warm weather impact" on sales added an additional 1 percentage point to the monthly sales in April, wrote Michael P. Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research in a release.
For May, the sales pace is returning to a more normal trend. For the month, Niemira expects unadjusted comp-store sales will grow between 3.0 percent and 3.5 percent.
