Retail chain store sales increased for the week ending February 14 in comparison to the week ending Feb. 7 by 1.4%, according to the ICSC-UBS Weekly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index. In a year-over-year sales comparison, for the week, the sales pace rose 7.5% compared with a 5.9% pace in the prior week.

“With Valentine’s Day falling on a Saturday, consumers were much more inclined to go shopping for that ‘someone special,’ especially on Valentine’s Day itself,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist and director of research. “Both discounters and department stores benefited from Valentine’s Day sales and as a result the monthly sales performance is now tracking at about +5.0% on a year-over-year basis.”

The ICSC-UBS Weekly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index measures nominal same-store or comparable-store sales excluding restaurant and vehicle demand. The weekly index uses 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 about 75 retail chain stores, which also is compiled by ICSC.

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