Solid Sales Gains Seen Last Week

New York City, In the week ending Feb. 26, retail chain store sales rose by 1.5% from the week before and by 3.3% from the same week a year ago, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)-UBS Weekly Chain Store Sales Index. The year-over-year gain is the biggest since Jan. 15.

“Despite the tough comparison with year-ago sales growth, sales momentum was robust,” Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist and director of research, said in a statement. “Customer traffic remained healthy for the four-week fiscal month of February and finished on an impressively strong note.

The ICSC expects February’s retail sales growth to come in at 3%.