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 12/2/08 For wk 11/29 2008 | ||||||||
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Highlights
Chain-store sales showed improvement in the Nov. 29 week, boosted by deep discounts and extended store hours for the Black Friday holiday kickoff. Same-store sales were still down year-on-year in the week, though Redbook's 0.4 percent dip is the least weak reading in four weeks. ICSC-Goldman reported a much stronger +1.3 percent year-on-year rate earlier this morning for the best reading in six weeks. Both Redbook and ICSC-Goldman, despite the late-month improvement, show full-month year-on-year November sales contracting. Vehicle sales will be reported through the session to round out company indications heading into next week's retail sales report from the Commerce Department.
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