U.S. chain store sales were down 4.6 percent in May

U.S. chain store sales for May were down 4.6 percent on a year-over-year same-store basis according ICSC’s index. A tough year-over-year comparison was the main factor behind the decrease. Last year the Federal government distributed $50 billion in tax rebate money and an ICSC consumer survey at the time showed that one-third of that amount was spent in the retail sector during the months of May and June.

"Despite the weakness in May, there are ‘green shoots’ within the retail sector," said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist and director of research. "Although overall retail demand was weak, there were individual retailers that have begun to see some notable improvements," he added.

May 2009 is the first month that the ICSCs Chain Store Sales Trends Report will no longer include Wal-Mart’s sales data. In April Wal-Mart announced that they would no longer report sales on a monthly basis and will be issuing quarterly sales reports only. For June 2009 ICSC Research expects comparable store sales will be down between 3 and 4 percent year-over-year, slightly better than May.

Courtesy: www.icsc.org International Council of Shopping Centers