Weekly Sales Tick Upward

Retail sales managed small gains last week as March conformed to the proverb and came in very much like a lion. With cold and snowy weather affecting much of the northern and eastern portions of the U.S., sales during the week ended March 7 rose 1.8 percent versus the comparable 2014 week, the same pace as in the week ended Feb. 28, according to the chain store sales survey of The Retail Economist LLC and Goldman Sachs. On a sequential basis, sales were up 1.3 percent from the prior week after a flat finish the week before that. “Early March continued the weather-dampened sales pace that has colored the January and February performance,” said Michael Niemira, chief economist and principal of The Retail Economist. “However, with the earlier Easter this year compared with 2014, sales momentum should advance more briskly by the end of March.” This year, Easter Sunday falls on April 5, 15 days earlier than it did in 2014. The earlier timing is expected to push some holiday-related and spring business into March, likely at the expense of some business in April. Weather has been a contributing factor in disappointing sales so far in this calendar year. Among the small sample of public

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