Chain Store Sales Up Sharply From Last Year

New York, NY, Nov. 10, 2009--The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs reported that weekly chain store sales through the week of Nov. 7 rose 2.9 percent from one year ago, mainly due to easy comparisons given the retail sales slide in November 2008.

Sales during that month fell by a historic 7.7 percent. However, for this past week, sales dropped 0.1 percent from the previous week ending six consecutive week-to-week increases at the cash register.
 
“Mixed influences prevailed this past week as sales declined on a weekly basis but rose on a year-over-year basis,” said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist.

“Consumers are largely not focused on holiday shopping yet as the ICSC-Goldman Sachs holiday survey found that more shoppers expect to start their holiday shopping on the day following Thanksgiving--the newly dubbed  'Bargain Friday '--than in any recent year," he said.