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 12/26/07 For wk 12/22 2007 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Redbook's take on the last week of pre-Christmas sales is much different than ICSC-UBS. Redbook reports only a 1.2 percent year-on-year rise in sales for the Dec. 22 week, well under the 2.8 percent reported earlier this morning by ICSC-UBS. Redbook said sales were uneven despite aggressive efforts by chains which extended store hours and increased their markdowns. Redbook's tally is more in line with the assessment from discount chain Target which warned on Monday of a sales decline for December. Further announcements from chains such as Target, or especially Wal-Mart, could shape trading these last few sessions of the year.
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