Chain Store Sales Up Over Last Year

New York, NY, Oct. 12, 2010--U.S. weekly chain-store sales rose 2.6% from last year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs.

The week-to-week change in comparable store sales also turned positive, but remained subdued with a 0.8% increase.

"The pace of sales over this past week was relatively steady with recent year-over-year trends," said Michael Niemira, ICSC director of research and chief economist.

For the fiscal month of October, ICSC Research anticipates that year-over-year comparable-store sales growth will increase in the 2.5 to 3% range, industry-wide,” Niemira added.