A weekly measure of sales at chain stores, discounters, and department stores. It is a less consistent indicator of retail sales than the weekly ICSC index. It is also calculated differently than other indicators. For instance, figures for the first week of the month are compared with the average for the entire previous month. When two weeks are available, then these are compared with the average for the previous month, and so on. It might be more useful to compare year-over-year figures since these are indeed compared to the comparable week a year ago. This index is correlated with the general merchandise portion of retail sales covering only about 10 percent of total retail sales. Why Investors Care
| Released on 5/22/07 For wk 5/19 2007 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Retail sales in May, so far at least, don't seem much better than April. Earlier this morning ICSC-UBS reported a weak 1.9 percent year-on-year rise in the May 19 week, backed now by Redbook and its 2.0 percent tally. Redbook said the latest comparison was hurt by a calendar shift for Mother's Day which, on May 13, fell a week earlier this year. The report also said cool weather hurt demand for summer goods. High gas prices are no doubt also a factor.
One month's results usually don't mean that much, but store sales for May, following comparison distortions and disappointments over April, seem certain to prove unusually important. Markets showed no early reaction to today's reports.
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