Tepid Expectations From June Retail Sales

We have seen two retail figures showing a very tepid June for same-store sales.  The Redbook was released for the first 4-weeks of June that was up 0.4% from May and up 2.3% from the same period a year ago.  The latest week of June 23 ended up only 1.9%.

Now we have data from Retail Metrics that came out Monday evening showing that a lack of catalysts is generating modest same-store sales expectations as store and mall checks have shown very modest traffic and conversion levels. Another issue is that the comparables from a year ago were so high.

What are some of the common themes driving the slow trend? Of course there is Europe, but there is also a worsening jobs front and slowing economic growth domestically as growth elsewhere dries up.

JON C. OGG