Press Release:
NEW YORK, May 31, 2012 – U.S. chain-store sales excluding the drug store chains rose by 4.0% on a year-over-year basis according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Given the differing reporting calendars, drug stores will report May sales in early June and ICSC will update its tally by June 7.
“The May sales performance was in line with our expectation, but continued to be mixed by retail segment. Clearly, though, the trend pace of industry sales has moderated since earlier in the year and most recently is affected by worry over the European financial situation and its ripple effect on the U.S. stock market and economy,” said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of research and chief economist for ICSC.
“With the lucrative back-to-school shopping season right around the corner, retailers will continue to hone their strategies to be able to ensure they are appropriately positioned to take full advantage of it.”
ICSC expects that June sales will increase about 3.5-4.0% total less drug store sales.
ICSC Chain Store Sales Trends is a monthly report on the U.S. retail industry’s sales performance based on an ICSC compilation of publicly-available sales for 20 chain stores during the month of May. Industry sales aggregates are compiled for “comparable-store” or “same-store” sales and for total store sales.
Those data are presented as an index. Comparable-store sales are also compiled for specialized-industry groupings, which include aggregates for apparel chain stores, department stores, discount stores, drug stores, footwear stores and wholesale clubs.
[Editor’s note: The drug store segment was not included in this month’s figure and will be reported in early June. The complete report can be found at https://www.icsc.org/research/research_show.php?section=cs]
Founded in 1957, ICSC is the premier global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its more than 55,000 members in over 90 countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, retailers and brokers, as well as academics and public officials.
As the global industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping center councils throughout the world. For more information, visit www.icsc.org.
