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Retail sales were relatively strong this past week, as dry weather and warming temperatures across much of the country spurred markedly higher customer traffic compared to a year ago. The first week of March is notoriously light on volume and retailers continue to benefit from easy year-over-year comparisons, but nonetheless results show that the positive momentum we have seen since September continues.
The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) reported that chain store sales saw the strongest gains in years for the first week of March, as sales increased 2.9% from the prior week (best since Dec 2001) and gained 3.4% over the prior-year period, which was the best year-over-year showing since July 2007. “To paraphrase the old saw, March sales started off like a lion as better weather got consumers motivated about spring-related merchandise,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist.
The company said Weather Trends International (WTI) reported that the week was the 2nd driest to start a March in 18 years. WTI observed that, “The northern third of the country actually had the most improved conditions with much warmer and drier weather while the South actually had a continuation of cool conditions. The weekend was the warmest part of the week which was a plus for early Spring merchandise sales.” Continue reading ‘Weekly Retail Sales: March Starts Off Strong’
