Retail Forecast for December Raised at ICSC on Discounts

Retail sales at stores open more than a year may have gained as much as 4.5 percent in December, more than previously estimated, as U.S. shoppers pursued holiday discounts, a trade group said.

Same-store sales in December were earlier projected to have advanced as much as 4 percent, the International Council of Shopping Centers said in a statement today. Sales at retail chains last week rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the New York-based researcher.