Chain store sales for the week ended Dec. 20 fell 0.6 percent from the year-ago period, according to a the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs. On a week-over-week basis, sales rose 2.6 percent.
“Despite the underlying sales weakness, the holiday-gift completion rate rose sharply from 63 percent in the prior week to 80%, which helped to drive the weekly sales pace,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist.
ICSC expects December monthly same-store sales will be down 1 percent or slightly more.
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