WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the commentary from the
ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released
Tuesday:
As the 2011 holiday shopping season begins to wind down, consumers
finally got into the holiday spirit and gave retailers some holiday
cheer this past week as weekly sales soared. Overall, for the week
ending December 17, 2011 weekly retail sales rose sharply by 3.4
percent, according to International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a year-over-year
basis, retail sales also increased and rose sharply to 4.6 percent.
“After a shopping lull over the first two weeks of December,
consumers were out in force this past week trying to complete their
holiday shopping,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research
and chief economist. “However, despite the latest week’s pickup,
consumers are still behind in their holiday-gift completion rate
relative to last year, which means the final week before Christmas is
likely to be very, very busy,” added Niemira.
For December, ICSC expects that comparable-store sales will
increase by 3.5 to 4.0 percent.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDT$,MAUDS$,M$U$$$]
