Same-Store Retail Sales Slow

Store sales slowed to a plus 0.5 percent year-on-year in the May 14 week following the prior week's 1.1 percent gain as store traffic thinned out after a brief surge of last minute Mother's day shopping on Sunday. Month-to-date May store sales were up 0.8 percent from May of last year, slightly above Redbook's target of a 0.7 percent gain. Month-over-month, same-store sales in May were 2.3 percent higher versus April. Redbook reported that retailers blamed bad weather for holding back sales of seasonal lines, but expect improvement in this segment in the coming weeks as the weather gets warmer and school graduations and Memorial Day approach.