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by Tom Moeller August 16, 2005
Chain store sales dipped for the second week according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS survey. A 0.2% w/w decline followed a 0.8% fall during the opening week of August. Sales so far this month are 0.2% ahead of the July average which rose 0.8% from June.
During the last ten years there has been a 56% correlation between the y/y change in chain store sales and the change in non-auto retail sales less gasoline, as published by the US Census Department. Chain store sales correspond directly with roughly 14% of non-auto retail sales less gasoline.
The leading indicator of chain store sales from ICSC recouped about half of the prior week's decline with a 0.4% (-0.3% y/y) rise.
The ICSC-UBS retail chain-store sales index is constructed using the same-store sales (stores open for one year) reported by 78 stores of seven retailers: Dayton Hudson, Federated, Kmart, May, J.C. Penney, Sears and Wal-Mart.
| ICSC-UBS (SA, 1977=100) | 08/13/05 | 08/06/05 | Y/Y | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Weekly Chain Store Sales | 458.0 | 458.9 | 4.4% | 4.6% | 2.9% | 3.6% |
