Same Store Retail Sales End Year With A Surge

Same store sales were up 9.3 percent year-on-year in the December 29 week, ending the year with a surge by accelerating 1.5 percentage points from the prior week's pace to the strongest annual growth in over 13 years. Month-to-date sales versus the prior month were up 0.6 percent, while the full month year-on-year gain rose 0.5 percentage points to 7.7 percent, the strongest reading of the year. Redbook's same store sales accelerated throughout December to post the best readings in at least 13 years during the key year-end holiday season, pointing to robust strength in ex-auto ex-gas retail sales.