New York, March 27 (BridgeNews)- U.S. retailer sales through the third week of March ending March 24 were up 0.5% from February on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Redbook Research weekly survey said. That compares with a 0.5% fall in the second week of March ending March 17.
* * * In the latest week, sales were "mixed to modestly firmer," although activity remained below plan for the week and month-to-date data, Redbook said.
However, Redbook said that some stores have revised their monthly expectations downward. "With two weeks remaining, we do not expect to see much improvement in performance," it said.
The latest week was helped by a relatively favorable year-over-year calendar comparison, but Redbook said the improvement in the latest week was driven "entirely" by discount stores.
Discount store sales also was well ahead of broadline store performance on a month-to-date basis, led mainly by sales of basic goods as well as bigger ticket discretionary goods such as home appliances and consumer electronics, Redbook said.
In contrast, sales at broadline stores slipped due to weak seasonal business, Redbook said. Some retailers blamed the unseasonably cold weather, especially in the northeast, for the mediocre performance, it added.
On a year-over-year basis, sales were up 2.3% for the month. End