Home > SCT News Home

SCT News Home

Christmas sales bring holiday cheer

The holiday season proved more successful for U.S. chain stores than many pundits had expected. Same-store sales for December rose 2.8 percent over December 2008, according to ICSC’s index. This was the strongest monthly sales gain since April 2008, which saw a 3.3 percent increase versus April 2007.

“Home-related items and footwear were cited by retailers as strong areas during December,” said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist and director of research at ICSC. “The season began slowly, but spending finished on a positive note as the two-month holiday season posted a comp-store gain of 1.8 percent — better than our expectation of a 1 percent gain.”

Retailers with a strong value position fared best. Aeropostale, Costco, Ross Stores and TJX Cos. all posted double-digit increases. Some department stores also did well, though, admittedly, against dismal figures from 2008. Saks Inc. posted an 11.1 percent gain, while Nordstrom rose 10.8 percent.

Looking ahead to January, ICSC expects sales to be flat to up 1 percent. In 2010, the organization anticipates sales will improve markedly, with an expected increase of 3 to 3.5 percent, which would be the strongest performance since 2006, when sales grew 4.8 percent.