Comps finish August on target

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 8/29/2006 1:28:00 PM

New York – Helped by a last-minute sprint as consumers stocked up on back-to-school goods and fall seasonal apparel, same-store retail sales improved by 3.5% during the final week of August, providing a boost that put sales for the entire month on target.

For all of August, same-store sales improved by an on-plan 3.3% over year-ago levels, the Johnson Redbook Index reported. Month-over-month, sales were up by 0.3%, also in line with the target.

Benefiting most, as they had all month, were the nation's big discounters, where sales during the closing week of August rose by 3.7%, beating the 3.3% increase the preceding week.

Looking ahead, the analyst set a preliminary September sales target of a 3.8% gain over year-before levels, or flat sales when measured on a month-over-month basis.