Same-Store Retail Sales Show Smallest Gain Of The Year

Same-store sales in Redbook's sample were up 0.3 percent year-on-year in the July 30 week, slowing down from the already sluggish 0.6 percent gain of the prior week and winding up the slow transitional retail month of July on a weak note by posting the smallest gain of the year. Month-to-date July sales were up only 0.5 percent compared to July of last year and were down 0.6 percent from June. Redbook noted that retail merchants did report above average weekend store traffic in Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee, where back-to-school sales tax holidays were kicked off. Looking ahead, Redbook's preliminary target for August calls for a slight acceleration in same-store sales to up 0.8 percent versus the year-ago month and up 0.1 percent versus July.