New York, August 22, 2006--Chain store retail sales fell in the latest week, as weekly chain store sales continued to move lower through August, a retail report said on Tuesday.
Sales dipped 0.2 percent in the week ended August 19, compared with an unchanged level 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 a moderate 2.7 percent after a 2.6 percent year-ago gain the preceding week.
"With the end of sales tax holidays in the bulk of the states and the lack of sales urgency, customers decided to take a break this past week," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research.
"ICSC expects August retail chain store sales to increase by nearly 3.0 percent, slightly below our earlier expectation," 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.
