Report: Retail sales drop 5.7% in latest week

Chicago ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate reported that year-over-year retail sales for the week ending April 25 declined 5.7%, while weekly sales increased 4.7% vs. the previous week ending April 18.

Year-over-year sales declined for the 13th out of a possible 16 weeks so far in 2009, as the retail industry continues to struggle due to poor economic conditions and consumers not having an occasion to shop last week following the Easter holiday.

Conversely, weekly sales posted an expected increase, compared with the previous week that contained Easter Sunday.

“The Easter calendar shift obviously influenced both yearly and weekly sales levels last week, and we anticipate retail sales will pick up over the next two weeks as consumers begin shopping for Mother’s Day,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak.