WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is the commentary from the
ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot released Tuesday:
With the 2010 holiday season now underway, normal holiday spending
patterns are taking hold as consumers recovered from their Black Friday
shopping and took a break this past week. As a result, for the week
ending December 4, weekly retail sales declined by 2.1 percent,
according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. In
addition, retail sales, on a year-over-year basis, slowed by 2.6 percent
after regaining its momentum last week.
“The post-Black Friday lull once again dominated the spending
pattern over the past week after an impressive and strong Black Friday
performance,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC director of research and chief
economist. “This early-December slowdown has become quite common in
recent years, but since consumers continue to report that their
holiday-gift shopping completion rate is far lower than in recent years,
sales should accelerate in the coming weeks,” Niemira added.
For December, ICSC Research anticipates the month will post a good
performance with a year-over-year comparable-store sales growth increase
of between 3.0 to 3.5 percent, industry-wide.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDT$,MAUDS$,M$U$$$]