New York, NY, November 23-- Retail chains' same-store sales were up 0.8 percent in the week ended Nov. 20 compared to the prior week, according to the latest index compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS.
The week-to-week gain reversed a drop of 0.4 percent seen during the Nov. 13 week. On a year-over-year basis, the latest week's same-store sales growth clocked in at 3.9 percent.
Mike Niemira, chief economist of ICSC, affirmed that retailers' same-store growth for all of November is likely to be in the range of 3.0 percent to 4.0 percent. He also noted that one in four people plans to shop on Nov. 26 -- the traditional "Black Friday" marking the start of the holiday selling season -- about the same as last year.
