Spring fever for retailers
New York — After a brutal winter, spring is finally here.
The sun is shining, flowers are blooming and people are emerging from hibernation.
It must be time to go shopping.
Retail sales for the week ended March 20 rose 3.7% from a year ago, according to data released Tuesday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. That’s the strongest gain in more than three years.
“Last week’s mild weather on both coasts gave consumers ‘spring fever’ and a reason to release some more of their pent-up demand which has been an underlying force over the last few weeks,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s research director and chief economist. “With the earlier Easter just two weeks away the current uptick for the month of March should continue. March sales are expected to rise by 3% to 3.5%,” he said.
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index was up 3.6% for the week, on top of a 3.3% gain a week earlier.
