June sales ahead of plan

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 6/21/2005 11:25:00 AM

NEW YORK -- With warm weather finally settling in across the country, same-store retail sales continued to run ahead of plan during the third week of June helped by strong sales of seasonal goods, the Johnson Redbook Index reported.

Sales climbed 4.1 percent during the week, building on gains of 3.3 and 3.7 percent respectively during the two preceding weeks. For the three weeks month-to-date, sales grew 3.7 percent, besting a target of 3.2 percent growth."Earlier worries among retailers about increased inventories and markdowns due to unseasonable weather have lessened, although some excesses are still out there,” said Redbook analyst Catlin Levis.