Same Store Retail Sales Continue Sluggish Pace

Same-store sales continue in their sluggish pace, up only 0.4 percent year-on-year in the May 21 week, which is the smallest weeekly gain in over a year and follows the previous week's similarly weak 0.5 percent gain. Month-to-date, May store sales are up only 0.7 percent from May of last year, though they are 2.1 percent higher than April of this year. Redbook blames the weak reading on shoppers who are delaying their shopping until Memorial Day bargains and an unfair comparison with last year's pre-Memorial Day promotional sales, which fell a week earlier than this year.