Econoday Report: Redbook July 7, 2009

Redbook

Released on 7/7/2009 8:55:00 AM For wk7/4, 2009

	Prior	Actual
Store Sales Y/Y change	-4.3 %	-4.2 %

Highlights
Redbook continues to report extremely weak retail conditions with its same-store sales tally down 4.2 percent in the July 4 week vs. the year-ago week. Redbook pegs June-to-May sales at minus 4.3 percent, a result that would send chills through the global markets. In its commentary, Redbook says consumers are more focused than ever on basic consumables. Chain-store sales will post their monthly results on Thursday, in announcements that will confirm just how weak June really was.

Definition
A weekly measure of sales at chain stores, discounters, and department stores. It is a less consistent indicator of retail sales than the weekly ICSC index. It is also calculated differently than other indicators. For instance, figures for the first week of the month are compared with the average for the entire previous month. When two weeks are available, then these are compared with the average for the previous month, and so on. It might be more useful to compare year-over-year figures since these are indeed compared to the comparable week a year ago. This index is correlated with the general merchandise portion of retail sales covering only about 10 percent of total retail sales. Why Investors Care