US DATA: Redbook sales for Aug 13 wk: “The tail-end of state
tax-free holidays including Sunday August 7th helped propel traffic and
sales. At this point in their respective calendars, most retailers are
seeing business generally balanced between summer clearance and
back-to-school/fall buying, although clearance activity is expected to
decline rapidly over the next few weeks depending on individual
transition programs. As the school year nears, sales appear to be
slightly above target year-to-date, although the impact will be easier
to assess next mo as consumers are increasingly buying closer to need.”
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Year-over-year: Week (w/e 08/13/11 vs year-ago) 4.7%
Year-over-year: Month (August 2011 vs August 2010) 4.8%
Month-over-month: (August 2011 vs July 2011) 0.6%