Chain Store Sales Steady Last Week

Chain-store sales were flat in the December 27 week according to ICSC-Goldman whose year-on-year same-store rate fell 9 tenths to a soft plus 2.2 percent. The report notes the importance of holiday gift cards the redemption of which it said should help January sales.

...meanwhile...

Chain-store sales in the December 27 week held steady, at a same-store year-on-year pace of plus 5.4 percent. Though solid, sales for December as a whole slowed in Redbook's sample which shows a 0.5 percent month-to-month dip. This reading points to weakness for the government's ex-auto ex-gas core rate for December. The report notes that sales have been driven by promotions which will hurt retailers' bottom lines.