Report: U.S. weekly chain store sales fall slightly

New York City The International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs reported their weekly sales findings on Tuesday, saying that retail chain store sales for the week ended Aug. 22 fell 0.2%.

ICSC expects August sales to decline by low single digits overall.

“Sales continued to bounce around on a weekly basis with this period's performance showing an improvement over the latest week, which offset some of the prior week's dip,” said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist. “With national temperatures warmer than average and a heat wave in the Northeast, sales of fans and air conditioners were boosted -- helping to drive customer traffic for discounters, in particular. Overall sales for August continue to face headwinds and with that ICSC Research continues to expect the month’s performance will be down between 3.5 to 4%,” Niemira added.