Warm weather, seasonal demand help sales

Retail sales were strong nationwide last week, boosted by seasonal demand and warm weather throughout much of the country.

Sales rose 1.6 percent during the week that ended Saturday compared with the previous week, and were up 3.1 percent year-over-year, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Stores Sales Index.

The year-over-year increase was the largest recorded since Sept. 14, when the increase was 3.2 percent.

“Despite the Easter Sunday store closures, business was brisk across the board for retailers over the past seek,” said Michael Niemira, the council’s vice president of research and chief economist, in a statement. “Business was especially robust relative to the prior year’s week for wholesale clubs, with strong performance for apparel, dollar and drug stores.”

Comparable-store sales in April are expected to up 3.5 to 4.0 percent compared with last year, according to the council.