Same Store Retail Sales Accelerate

Same store sales were up 4.8 percent year-on-year in the November 25 week, an 0.7 percentage point acceleration from the prior week's pace that takes the weekly reading to its highest level since the December 30, 2014. Month-to-date sales versus October were still down, but the loss narrowed by 0.5 percentage points to 0.2 percent, while full month year-on-year sales were up 3.5 percent, up 0.5 percentage points and back up to the pace seen at the end of October. The strong sales pickup reported by retailers in Redbook's same-store sample during the last two weeks ends a streak of weaker readings retreating from the strongest year-on-year sales comparisons in over 2 years reported in mid-September and exceeds those highs, putting in the strongest reading in 3 years. The week's report points to robust strength in ex-auto ex-gas retail sales.