Jun 19, 2007

ICSC: Retail sales dip 0.1%By Providence Business News

New York – Sales at U.S. retail stores open at least one year declined a seasonally 0.1 percent over the past week, continuing the “roller-coaster” ride of the past nine weeks, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and UBS Securities LLC report for the seven days ended June 16. Sales rose 1.0 percent in the week ended June 9 and fell 0.5 percent the week before that.

The decline came despite fair weather and Father’s Day shopping, the ICSC noted. Last week’s low rainfall and high temperatures nationwide were “ideal” for encouraging store traffic, Weather Trends International told Bloomberg News.

Last week was the third this year to be warmer and drier than a year earlier, Bloomberg noted. But gasoline prices were 4.6 higher than a year earlier, averaging $3.01 per gallon nationwide in AAA’s June 18 survey.

Compared with the same week of 2006, same-store retail sales rose 1.9 percent last week, continuing the slowing trend of the past month. Sales rose 2.1 percent the week ended June 9, 2.3 percent the week ended June 2 and 2.9 percent the week ended May 26.

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