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 9/30/08 For wk 9/27 2008 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Weekly chain-store reports are pointing to month-to-month trouble for the September retail sales report from the Commerce Department. Both ICSC-Goldman and Redbook reported declining rates of growth through the month. Redbook pegs same-store sales growth at only 1.0 percent in the Sep. 27 week, the weakest reading since spring. Redbook said the latest week was the softest of September, leading some retailers to scale back targets for the month. Unit vehicle sales, to be posted tomorrow, will offer further clues on September.
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