New York, NY, March 7, 2006--Chain store sales rose 0.2 percent last week, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers store sales index.
The ICSC also said that for the week ending March 4 the year-over-year pace increased sharply to 4.3 percent, the strongest year-over-year gains since late November.
"As summer-like weather warmed up the South and very mild weather extended as far north as Illinois over the last week, consumers got the shopping bug," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research. "For March, ICSC expects industry same-store sales to rise by approximately 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent, on a year-over-year basis for the month as Easter-related sales shift from March to April."
