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 8/7/07 For wk 8/4 2007 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Store sales appear to have picked up in July from a very soft June, based not only on Redbook's 3.2 percent pace in the Aug. 4 week but also ICSC-UBS's similar totals and also early comments from retailers themselves. But price promotions are definitely part of the success, a plus for the top line but a minus for the bottom line. Vehicle sales, data released last week, were on the weak side, also suggesting that consumers, despite solid job growth, are still hesitant. The bulk of the nation's chain stores will post their monthly results on Thursday with the retail trade report from the Commerce Department to be released on Monday.
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