NEW YORK, July 23, 2013 – Excessive heat in parts of the country and summer clearance sales helped to heat up a positive performance for retailers overall. As a result, sales for the week ending July 20, 2013 rose by a solid 1.4%–more than offsetting the prior week’s drop–based on the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. In addition, store sales on a year-over-year basis accelerated modestly by 2.1%.
“Sales recovered from the prior week’s dip as department store sales, in particular, appeared to improve markedly, based on the ICSC-Goldman Sachs consumer tracking survey,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research and chief economist. “In addition, summer clearance sales continued to be the prime mover for sales—especially helped this past week by a bout of excessive heat in the Northeast and parts of the Midwest—and those sales will remain the prime mover until back-to-school shopping kicks in more aggressively in August.,” Niemira added.
For the fiscal month of July, ICSC Research anticipates chain store sales will increase between 3.0% and 3.5%, following the June rise of 4.1%
