WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the text of the weekly retail
sales report released by Johnson Redbook Tuesday, for the month-to-date
through the week-ended March 31:
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index was up 4.6% in the fifth and
final week of March following a 3.8% gain the prior week. Month-to-date,
March was up 3.6% compared to March of last year (relative to a target
of a 3.3% gain). Month-over-month showed a 0.7% gain compared to
February (relative to a target of 0.4% gain).
Easter related purchases as well as favorable weather drove up
demand for apparel, footwear and Easter seasonal goods. Most retailers
were satisfied with customer response to spring merchandise across both
hard lines and soft lines and ended March ahead of plan. As previously
noted, the growth rate for March reflects an upward bias from the
earlier placement of Easter this year. April is expected to show a
corresponding downward bias. Retailers recommend withholding judgment on
the season until the end of this month, when March and April can be
assessed as a single accounting unit. Looking forward, our preliminary
target for April is for year over year same store growth of 3.4%; this
would represent a month-over-month change versus March of 0.1%. This
target will be finalized in next week’s report. Retailers officially
report March sales on Thursday, and we plan as usual to release our
Johnson Redbook Same-store Sales Index that morning.
** MNI Washington Bureau (202) 371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MAUDS$]
