Chain store sales rose by 3 percent for October year-over-year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc. Like September, October continued to feature a shift in where consumers shopped.

“Once again, the department store sector was ‘hot’ in October with sales growth slightly in excess of two percentage point above its year-to-date performance,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist and director of research. “However, surprisingly the industry segments that were most sensitive to gasoline prices, did not get the kind of lift that might be implied by the recent price declines, which boosted consumers’ discretionary spending power.”

Niemira said that ICSC will be watching to see if the trend continues. For November, ICSC expects same-store sales will increase by 3 percent, on a year-over-year basis, as consumers turn their attention to holiday shopping.

ICSC Chain Store Sales Trends is a monthly report on the U.S. retail industry’s sales performance based on an ICSC preliminary compilation of publicly-available sales for 57 chain stores during the month of October. Industry sales aggregates are compiled for “comparable-store” or “same-store” sales and for total store sales. Comparable-store sales are also compiled for specialized-industry groupings, which include aggregates for apparel chain stores, department stores, discount stores, drug stores, footwear stores, furniture chain stores and wholesale clubs.

JCK