NEW YORK – Sales at U.S. retail stores open at least one year rose 0.5 percent over the past week after declining 0.3 percent the week before, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers report for the seven days ended April 28, Bloomberg News said.
Compared with year-ago levels, sales rose only 1.9 percent, the smallest gain in two months, after increasing 2.1 percent the week before. Mike Niemira, the ICSC’s chief economist at ICSC, said full-month sales for April “are expected to dip slightly” from year-ago levels, “which largely reflects the effect of the [early] Easter and weather-pattern shifts.”
“In the absence of any strong sales driver, chain-store sales growth has and will continue to flip-flop around,” Niemira said. Mother’s Day, which falls on Sunday, May 13, “will be the next focal point for retailers,” he added.
The International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group, and investment bank UBS Securities LLC track same-store sales at about 60 chains representing about 10 percent of U.S. retail sales.
