Press Release:
NEW YORK, October 4, 2012 – U.S. chain-store sales rose by 3.9% (excluding drug stores) for the fiscal month of September on a year-over-year basis according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). Wholesale clubs (+6.0%) and apparel (+5.0%) led the way for the month, while drug stores (-8.6%) continued to drag down the aggregate (+0.9% including drug stores).
“September industry sales remained healthy–though were more subdued than in August or for the year-to-date trend–due to three factors: (1) a more difficult comparison with the September 2011 sales pace (+6.3%); (2) a more concentrated back-to-school shopping season in August 2012 than is typical of most years when it tends to run from mid-July to mid-September; and (3) a promotion that boosted August sales pace by an estimated 0.3% higher than trend,” said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of research and chief economist for ICSC.
For October, ICSC research anticipates that the sales pace will remain consistent with a to 3.5 – 4.5 percent increase (excluding drug stores).
ICSC Chain Store Sales Trends is a monthly report on the U.S. retail industry’s sales performance based on an ICSC preliminary compilation of publicly-available sales for 22 chain stores during the month of September.
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.
For the complete report, please use the following member ID number (1177584), password (press2002pass) and link https://www.icsc.org/cgi/rsrchshow?section=cs.
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 www.icsc.org.
