WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the commentary from the
ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released Tuesday:
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs (ICSC-GS) chain store sales index for the
week ending August 28 rose by a moderate 0.1% on a week-over-week basis.
The latest weeks increase broke an extended week-over-week drop that
lasted four consecutive weeks. The fiscal month ended mixed, but
slightly better than during the majority of the month. Over the last
week, customer traffic weakened overall, but improved modestly for
discounters. Nationwide, the seasonably warm weather continued to curb
fall and back-to-school apparel merchandise demand. According to Weather
Trends International (WTI) unseasonably hot weather lingered for its
14th consecutive week with temperatures trending both hotter than last
year by 1.4F degrees and above its long-term average for the nation as
a whole by 1.3F degrees.
WTI observed further that August is on track to be the hottest
August in 15 years, but regionally California is shaping up to have its
coldest August in over 20 years. That unevenness in the weather added to
the unevenness of the sales during the month. Finally, on August 30,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average
price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline at the pump declined by
about 2 cents (and cumulative about 10 cents per gallon over the last
three weeks) to $2.682 — the lowest since late February — and was
about 3% higher than the same week of the prior year.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDT$,MAUDS$,M$U$$$]
