Week-over-week sales down 9.5%

Chicago ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate reported that year-over-year retail sales increased a steady 6.5% for the week ending May 15 while sales slipped 9.5% versus the previous week ending May 8.

As expected, week-over-week sales sharply declined last week as Mother’s Day shopping ended and spending levels returned to slower, seasonal levels. However, ShopperTrak’s NRSE shows yearly sales once again remained very positive, posting a year-over-year increase in 15 out of 20 weeks so far in 2010. To date, retail sales for May are up 5.3%.

“Year-over-year sales continue to perform at a solid pace as it seems shoppers have adapted to economic conditions and higher gasoline prices by planning better and spending more at malls with less visits,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak. “We expect sales and traffic will slow a bit this week before picking back up for Memorial Day and graduation spending at the end of May.”