December ends on a positive note despite weather issues

- Weekly sales rise by 0.4% vs. last week

- Sales rise 3.6% year-over-year

NEW YORK, January 4, 2011 – Despite a major Nor’easter, which affected the East Coast, retailers closed the fiscal month of December on a positive note and enjoyed four weeks of positive weekly sales results over the five-week fiscal month. For the week ending January 1, retail sales rose by 0.4 percent from the prior week, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. In addition, retail sales, on a year-over-year basis, softened a bit but remained positive overall at 3.6 percent.

“Although the beginning of the fiscal week’s sales were battered by a major Nor’easter along the East Coast, the warming trend by week’s end helped lift store traffic as well as helped to recover some lost post-Christmas sales earlier in the week,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research and chief economist. “In the end December will prove to be a relatively healthy sales month for retailers,” Niemira added.

For December ICSC Research expects industry sales will increase by approximately 3.5 percent (with a bias on the stronger side) when retailers report their monthly sales results on Thursday, January 6. In addition, ICSC will be releasing its combined November-December holiday-season sales results on Thursday, January 6.