WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is are excerpts from the
commentary from the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot
released Tuesday:
The ICSC-Goldman Sachs weekly chain store sales index
declined by 0.8% to launch the fiscal-]month of May on a soft note as
there were few catalysts for spending in the past week. As a result,
the ICSC]GS consumer tracking survey found that consumers shifted
their spending towards more staples (grocery, in particular) and less
discretionary spending. This compositional shift contributed to the
softer performance for the week.
But with Mother’s Day fast approaching, this shopping pattern is
likely to swing back to more discretionary spending in the current week.
Weather was warm for the nation, but that did not seem to matter much
for sales. According to Weather Trends International (WTI), the national
average temperature over the past week ending Saturday was 6.5 degrees F
warmer than last year and 5.5 degrees F warmer than its long-term
average.
WTI noted that “it was very warm across the southern tier of the
nation with 118 new record high temperatures. The warm weather made this
the warmest first week of May in more than 21 years across the Southeast
and South Central States and the fourth warmest across the South Rocky
Mountains.” And as temperatures warmed, the price of gasoline at the
pump continued to recede for its fifth consecutive week, which helped
lift potential discretionary spending. The average price of a gallon of
regular]grade gasoline at the pump dropped by another 4 cents to $3.79
on May 7 and, cumulatively, by 15 cents over the past five weeks,
according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Compared with
the same week of the prior year, the price of regular-grade gasoline
fell by 4.4% in the latest week, which was its largest decline since
October 19, 2009 and the third consective year]over]year price drop
** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: MAUDT$,MAUDS$,M$U$$$]