US DATA: ICSC for wk Oct 29: “Halloween was a driver of sales this
past week as retail sales rose 0.7% from the prior week according to the
International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs (GS)
Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a year over-year basis sales picked
back up, increasing by 3.0%. Halloween lifted sales, especially at
discounters and drug stores, and the weekly gain was the strongest since
the week ending September 10, 2011… Overall customer traffic
improved for the week, however storms and power outages in the Northeast
hurt regional demand across most stores.”