Same Store Retail Sales Continue Brisk Pace

Same store sales were up 3.5 percent year-on-year in the October 21 week, slipping a tick from the prior week's reading but maintaining the brisker 3 percent plus pace in force since mid-August. Month-to-date sales versus the prior month were down 1.3 percent, however, shaving a tick off the previous week's reading. Full month year-on-year sales remained with a respectable 3.4 percent gain, though a percentage point off the September highs. The week's data shows Redbook's sample of retailers continuing to report weaker sales comparisons than in September but substantially stronger than earlier in the year, and points to healthy ex-auto ex-gas retail sales for October.