U.S. chain stores posted a gain of 4.5 percent for the fiscal month of January on a year-over-year basis according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC). The January industry performance was the strongest since September 2011 (+5.5 percent).
The monthly sales boost to drug stores was helped by a substantial rise in flu shots administered at the pharmacies. Further contributing to the above average industry gain was end-of-season bargain hunting at department and apparel stores.
Despite worries of a ‘fiscal drag due to higher payroll taxes, consumers were out shopping for bargains and clearance items, said Michael P. Niemira, vice president of research and chief economist for ICSC.
For the fiscal year of 2012, U.S. chain store sales posted a 2.1 percent gainheld back by a 4.5 percent decline in the drug store segment. Excluding drug stores, industry sales rose 4.4 percent in the fiscal year of 2012, which was moderately weaker than the industrys 2011 strong gain of 5.3 percent.
For February, ICSC research anticipates that the sales pace will moderate to 2.75 percent-3.0 percent in total and about 3.5 percent excluding drug stores.
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 22 chain stores during the month of January. Industry sales aggregates are compiled for “comparable-store” or “same-store” sales and for total store sales. Those data are presented as an index. 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 and wholesale clubs.
Founded in 1957, ICSC is the premier global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its more than 58,000 members in over 90 countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, retailers and brokers, as well as academics and public officials.
