NEW YORK – Sales at U.S. retail stores open at least one year rose 0.3 percent over the past week, accelerating from the previous week’s 0.2-percent rise, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC report for the seven days ending Aug. 25, Bloomberg News reported.
The report credited the weather, saying that the wettest week since last October helped boost sales of umbrellas and back-to-school gear.
Compared with the same week of 2006, same-store sales rose 2.5 percent, lagging their 2.7-percent increase in the week ended Aug. 18, the ICSC-UBS report said.
“Sales got a lift from a confluence of factors,” said Michael Niemira, the ICSC’s chief economist, including sales-tax exemptions in some states and cooler, wetter weather that helped steer consumers to the mall instead of the beach. “Gas prices are moderating,” added UBS analyst Michelle Tan, in a report today entitled “Some Reasons to Hope.
For all of August, the ICBS predicted same-store sales will increase by 2.0 percent to 2.5 percent compared with the same month last year.
The International Council of Shopping Centers, a New York-based trade group, and investment bank UBS track same-store sales at about 60 chains that represent about 10 percent of U.S. retail sales. Additional information is available at www.icsc.org.
