ShopperTrak: Year-over-year retail sales rise 3.3% for week ending Sept. 18
Chicago Year-over-year GAFO retail sales increased 3.3% for the week ending Sept. 18, while sales were down 10.6% for the previous week ending Sept. 11, according to ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate (NRSE).
As ShopperTrak anticipated, GAFO retail sales estimates declined significantly last week as the industry entered the seasonal low period between Labor Day and Columbus Day. Despite the poor week-over-week performance, the retail intelligence firm reports yearly performance has been relatively strong in 2010 with sales increasing 32 of 37 weeks compared with 2009.
“Weekly sales were expectedly slow last week and our historical data indicates this trend will most likely continue for another couple of weeks until Columbus Day sales begin and temperatures in the Northern states decline and drive fall merchandise sales,” said Bill Martin, founder of ShopperTrak.
Developed by ShopperTrak, the NRSE provides a nationwide benchmark of retail sales. It is derived from the U.S. Commerce Department's GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby, books and other related store sales) statistic, as well as ShopperTrak's proprietary industry intelligence on shopper movement and sales statistics.