Highlights
Both ICSC-Goldman and now Redbook are reporting the slowest rates of sales growth since mid-November. Redbook reports a plus 1.6 percent year-on-year rate for same-store sales last week. The report says the week's unusually cold weather did boost sales of winter goods but also kept traffic down. It also notes that the presidential election held down traffic. Redbook's month-to-month comparison with December shows a sizable 0.5 percent decline which points to weakness for the government's ex-auto ex-gas reading of the retail sales report.