Press Release:
WEEKLY SALES DECLINE ONCE AGAIN AS CONSUMERS HOLD BACK
NEW YORK, August 16, 2011– Retailers faced their third consecutive week of weekly sales declines as consumers pulled back once again on their spending as concerns of slowing economic activity takes another firm hold.
Given this, for the week ending August 13, weekly retail sales declined by 1.5 percent, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. On a year-over-year basis retail sales slowed to 3.5 percent.
“Last week’s large scale stock market drops and wild volatility added to consumers concerns about the slowing and failing economy and as a result pulled back on their overall spending once again,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research and chief economist.
“The one positive is that gasoline prices dropped across the country last week, which might begin to restore some consumer confidence for the rest of the month—even though gasoline prices at the pump remain up about 31 percent from the same point in 2010,” Niemira added.
For the month, ICSC Research forecasts August sales will increase by between 4.0 and 5.0 percent and by 3.0 and 4.0 percent, excluding the impact of fuel compared with a 4.6 percent gain in July or 3.5 percent less the fuel sales impact that have been inflated by higher gasoline prices at the pump.
The Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot is produced by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. This index measures U.S. nominal same-store or comparable-store sales excluding restaurant and vehicle demand.
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a bank holding company and a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Goldman Sachs provides a wide range of services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.
About ICSC
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 https://www.icsc.org/.
