Weekly retail chain store sales began the month on a positive note as sales increased by a solid 1 percent for the week ending Nov. 5, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. This was the strongest week-over-week sales performance since April 16. The year-over-year sales pace, however, slowed slightly to 4.1 percent.

“Late Halloween sales helped to lift sales last week,” said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist and director of research. “With receding gasoline prices and the easy sales comparison with November 2004, we expect comp-store sales to rise by 3.5 to 4 percent for this November.”

The ICSC Weekly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index measures nominal same-store or comparable-store sales excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly index is constructed using sales-weighted geometric average growth rates to preserve long-term consistency and is statistically benchmarked to a broad-based monthly retail industry sales aggregate that currently represents approximately 75 retail chain stores, which also is compiled by ICSC. A representative sample of those major retailers has been used as a control group to extrapolate the weekly sales index.

JCK