Econoday Report: Redbook September 9, 2009

Redbook

Released on 9/9/2009 8:55:00 AM For wk9/5, 2009

	Prior	Actual
Store Sales Y/Y change	-4.1 %	-2.4 %

Highlights
Redbook, like ICSC-Goldman, reports strength in the Sep. 5 week with its year-on-year same-store sales tally at a well above-trend minus 2.4 percent. The report said discount stores did well, benefiting from promotions, though department stores reported mixed results. It noted the back-to-school is winding down for some retailers while other retailers expect the season to extend through the month.

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