ICSC published sales figures for the last week of pre-Christmas sales (PDF). That doesn't include the last-minute surge that was widely reported. The question is whether the surge was enough to turn the season into a truly successful one.
The last week of the holiday rush proved to be a positive one,as many consumers shopped late this year. Weekly chain store sales rose by 2.8 percent for the
week ending December 22, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Inc.
(ICSC) and UBS Securities LLC. On a year-over-year basis, sales rose by 2.8 percent as well.
The weekly year-over-year figures look like this:
| Week | YOYGain |
|---|---|
| Dec. 1 | 3.1% |
| Dec. 8 | 2.3% |
| Dec. 15 | 2.1% |
| Dec. 22 | 2.8% |
For all ICSC's releases, go here.
For its part, SpendingPulse the retail data service of MasterCard Advisors, said retail sales rose 3.6 percent for the holiday season. However, the SpendingPulse figure tends to be a bit high because it doesn't adjust for same-store sales.