October chain-store sales post 3.7% gain

Press Release:

NEW YORK, November 3, 2011 – U.S. chain-store sales rose by 3.7% on a year-over-year basis according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). The overall sales pace for the year continues to show strength with a fiscal YTD pace of 5.1%.

“October sales were, to a degree, off of the fiscal YTD pace due to a special host of factors,” said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of research and chief economist for ICSC. “Of which a primary one was weather, as unseasonably warm temperatures in the beginning of the month curbed demand for cold-weather apparel, and a snowstorm in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states at the end of the month negatively impacted traffic.”

ICSC expects that November sales will increase between 3.5% – 4.0%.

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 25 chain stores during the month of October. 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.

For the complete report, please use the following member ID number (1177584), password (press2002pass) and link http://www.icsc.org/cgi/rsrchshow?section=cs.

About ICSC 

Founded in 1957, ICSC is the premier global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its more than 55,000 members in over 90 countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, retailers and brokers, as well as academics and public officials. As the global industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping center councils throughout the world. For more information, visit www.icsc.org.