US ICSC-GS Weekly Store Sales -0.3% in July 30 Week

WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the commentary from the
ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released
Tuesday:

Dspite hot weather driving summer clearance sales retailers are
waiting for back-to-school shopping to pick up speed. As a result
weekly retail sales slipped slightly (-0.3%) for the week ending July
30, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index.
On a year-over-year basis retail sales continued to remain positive but
slowed to 4.0 percent.

“July sales were relatively healthy though uneven by type of
retailer with discounters doing better and apparel specialty a bit
uneven for the month,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of
research and chief economist. “For the month of July, ICSC Research
forecast monthly retail sales will increase 4.5 to 5.5 percent–with the
impact of higher fuel prices boosting that tally and by 3.5 to 4.5
percent, excluding the impact of fuel when retailers report their
monthly comp-store sales results this Thursday, August 4, 2011,” Niemira
added.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

[TOPICS: MAUDT$,MAUDS$,M$U$$$]