ICSC: International Council of Shopping Centers

U.S. chain store sales fell 2.7 percent in November, ICSC index says

U.S. chain store sales for November 2008 fell by a record 2.7 percent on a year-over-year same-store basis according to ICSC's index.

"The November retail sales environment was an extremely difficult one with the backdrop of the recession and financial crisis still looming large in the economy," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC chief economist and director of research. "With this poor start to the holiday season’s sales—even adjusting for special factors—ICSC Research has trimmed its November-December holiday sales forecast to flat to down one percent," said Niemira. "The main special factor in November was a tough comparison from last year with a calendar-shift drag on year-over-year sales, worth between 1.5 and 2.0 percentage points. Looking ahead to December, ICSC forecasts that industry sales will grow by 1.5 percent for December," he added.