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 3/11/08 For wk 3/8 2008 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Redbook reports a very soft +1.0 percent same-store sales rate in the March 8 week, consistent with ICSC-UBS's tally that shows a +1.6% rate. These are very low rates that correspond to a total sales rate that is barely over the rate of inflation. Weak retail sales are likely to be the theme on Thursday when the Commerce Department posts data for February.
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