Weekly Chain Store Sales Up 2.7% vs. Year Ago

New York, NY, March 20, 2007--Chain store sales for the week ended March 17 rose 2.7% from the year-ago period, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities.

On a week-over-week basis, sales rose 0.4%.

"Nationally, weather turned appreciably warmer for the week and that helped to drive some seasonal apparel and goods demand, though a Northeast weekend storm held back shopping in that region at that time," said Michael Niemira, ICSC's chief economist. ICSC expects March's reported sales to grow 4% to 5% as the earlier Easter this year will inflate the March performance at the expense of April.