US DATA: Wk 01-Dec ICSC-Goldman Store Sales: “ICSC-GS chain store sales index
for the week ending Dec 1 declined by a hefty 3.1% from the prior week following
a 3.3% surge
during Thanksgiving week. The post-Thanksgiving holiday-gift buying lull appears
to be kicking in. Meanwhile, year-over-year sales momentum decelerated to a
still-healthy 3.2%. The ICSC-GS consumer tracking survey found that overall
customer traffic was lower than during the same week of the prior year with
weakness at discounters, department stores, dollar stores and online, but
grocery
and apparel stores were stronger again. Consumers fell behind the prior year’s
pace of holiday-gift completion with the average completion rate (inclusion of
those who have not begun to shop) rising to 37% in the latest week compared with
a much higher rate of 46% for the same week of the prior year. During the
Thanksgiving week, the gift-buying completion rate mirrored last year. Weather’s
impact was mixed.”