Chain Store Sales Tick Up

New York, NY, Aug. 11, 2009--Chain store sales edged up for the week that ended Aug. 8.

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs reported that chain store sales were up 0.4 percent from one year ago. The slight increase followed a string of weekly declines.

From this point forward, ICSC estimates that year-over-year comparisons will be easier given such sharp drops in retail sales that began in third quarter 2008. ICSC predicts comparable store sales to decline 3.5 percent to 4 percent for the month of August.