NEW YORK–For the first full week of December, weekly chain-store sales fell 0.8 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs’ weekly sales index.
“Over the last week, the completion rate of holiday gift-buying fell behind last year and with it holiday spending,” said Michael Niemira, ICSC’s chief economist, in a statement.
“The tough economic retail environment … is likely to dominate the full month’s performance.”