Chain store sales rise in January

Press Release:

NEW YORK, February 3, 2011 – U.S. chain store sales posted a strong 4.8 percent year-over-year comparable-store gain for January 2011 according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

“Retailers weathered the storms in January, both literally and figuratively, besting ICSC's initial forecast,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research for ICSC. “This gain is encouraging especially given the drag on sales created by the winter storms in the Northeast and Southeast, and suggests relatively healthy underlying consumer demand,” Niemira added.

For February, ICSC projects sales will increase by 2.5-3.0%.

For the fiscal year ending January 2011, industry sales rose by 3.5% -- the industry’s strongest performance since 2006 (+4.8%). ICSC continues to forecast that U.S. industry comp-store sales will increase by 3.0-3.5% in fiscal year 2011, as a stronger pace of employment growth and more take-home pay support a solid underlying pace of consumer demand throughout the year.

ICSC Chain Store Sales Trends is a monthly report on the U.S. retail industry's sales performance based on an ICSC preliminary compilation of publicly-available sales for 32 chain stores during the month of December. Industry sales aggregates are compiled for "comparable-store" or "same-store" sales and for total store sales. Those data are presented as an index. Comparable-store sales are also compiled for specialized-industry groupings, which include aggregates for apparel chain stores, department stores, discount stores, drug stores, footwear stores and wholesale clubs.