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 11/27/07 For wk 11/24 2007 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Mid-single digit same-store sales growth is all chain stores can muster according to both Redbook and ICSC-UBS whose tallies for the Nov. 24 week came in at 2.4 percent and 2.5 percent. These results contrast with the media's early take on Black Friday, that big crowds were spelling big success. But heavy traffic apparently did not make for heavy sales as consumers were looking instead for heavy bargains. Retailers have been quiet so far on Black Friday results. Redbook and ICSC-UBS together may move the markets a bit, at least offering a sobering view on the outlook for retail sales.
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