Chain store sales increased on a year-over-basis each week of April 2010, although the month ended with a slight week-over-week decline, according to [pdf] the Weekly Chain Store Sales Snapshot compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and Goldman-Sachs.
Pace Picks Up from March
Although the impending Easter holiday (April 4, 2010) helped drive positive growth in year-over-year and week-over-week (except a 0.4% drop the week of March 13, 2010) sales during March 2010, that pace continued even after Easter passed.
The Chain Store Index for the week ending May 1, 2010 reached 513, a 4.4% year-over-year improvement but a 0.4% week-over-week decline. This was the only decline in an otherwise positive sales month. Flooding in the Southeast, especially in Tennessee, offset increased purchases of warm-weather goods caused by unseasonably high temperatures in the Northeast and West.
For the week ending April 24, the Chain Store Index was 514.9, up 5.5% year-over-year and 0.2% from the previous week. The Index was 513.8 the week ending April 17, up 4.6% year-over-year and 0.2% from the previous week. During the week ending April 10, the Index was 513, up 4% year-over-year and 0.1% from the previous week. That week (ending April 3), the Index was 512.7, up 4.7% year-over-year and 2.1% from the previous week.
Chain store sales in 1977 are set to a score of 100.
April Comps Rise 0.8%
Despite initial predictions of comparable chain store sales in the flat to negative 3% range, based on the ICSC’s tally of 30 retail chains, April 2010 comparable store sales rose 0.8%. The ICSC says comparable sales during the month were dramatically restrained by the year-over-year calendar impact of the Easter/spring breaks/warm weather shifts on the March-April period. On a two-month basis, the average comparable store sales pace was 4.9%, well above what might be sustainable.