WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the commentary from the
ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released Tuesday:
With the official arrival of the spring this past week, retailers
had mixed results. The net retail sales performance for the week ending
March 24 slipped by 0.5% based on the International Council of Shopping
Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs’ Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a
year-over-year basis retail sales marched on at a slower pace of 2.7%.
“During this past week business appeared to be softer at department
and apparel stores, but, discounters seemingly picked up, thus providing
mixed performance for the industry,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice
president of research and chief economist. “Heading into the last week
of the fiscal month, the industry will likely see a stronger pick-up in
apparel demand with the early arrival of Easter (April 8, 2012 vs. April
24, 2011) this year,” added Niemira.
For March, ICSC expects that comp-store sales will increase between
3.0% – 5.0% for the industry overall.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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