Chain store sales decreased 0.9% in the week ended May 25, according to the ICSC-Goldman Sachs weekly survey of comparable chain-store sales, published Wednesday.
Year-over-year basis sales grew 2.8%.
"Despite the Memorial Day weekend lead-in, retailers once again saw the return of a rollercoaster spending pattern this past week," said Michael Niemira, ICSC vice president of research and chief economist. "Overall for the week the ICSC-GS consumer tracking survey found that demand was stronger at department, apparel and electronic stores, but considerably softer at discounters and wholesale clubs, thus highlighting the unevenness in sales across sales categories."
