Consumers not worried by Wall Street woes, according to the latest survery from ICSC.U.S. consumers are not letting Wall Street's current woes affect their shopping habits, says a survey of 1,000 consumers commissioned by the International Council of Shopping Center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into (ICSC ICSC International Council of Shopping Centers ICSC International Chemical Safety Cards ICSC International Civil Service Commission ICSC International Council of Shopping Centres ICSC International Catholic Stewardship Council ) and UBS UBS Union Bank of Switzerland UBS United Bible Societies UBS United Blood Services UBS United Buying Service UBS Used Bookstore UBS University Business Services UBS Universal Building Society (UK) UBS Ulaanbaatar Broadcasting System Securities. Despite the volatility, some 46% of the respondents have maintained their spending habits and express optimism that the stock markets will settle down soon. Press reports about the market's tumble in the face of widespread subprime loan Subprime Loan A loan that is offered at a rate above prime to individuals who do not qualify for prime rate loans. Notes: Subprime loans tend to have a rate that is 0.1% to 0.6% higher than the prime rate. defaults and housing weakness have been unrelenting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Dow Jones Industrial Average The best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. recorded triple-digit declines on a number of days before stabilizing when the Federal Reserve Board cut rates to pump liquidity into the banking system. Some 13% of the survey respondents said they are aware of the market turmoil, but do not base their spending behavior on the stock markets. However, an equal number said their awareness will cause them to think before making major and nonessential non·es·sen·tial adj. Being a substance required for normal functioning but not needed in the diet because the body can synthesize it. purchases. About 25% said they do not follow the market reports at all. Meanwhile, U.S. chain store sales grew 2.9% in August compared to the previous year, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. ICSC's index. This performance was slightly stronger than July's 2.6% gain, but in line with the February-August average of 2.4% growth. Back-to-school shoppers drove the increase, causing specialty apparel stores to post their highest comp gains since March, up 1.9% compared to last year. Discount store sales rose by 3.4%, outperforming July's 2.6% gain. "Overall, the August sales performance is not dramatically different from recent months and the underlying pace of demand remained slower than during the same time of the prior year," said Michael P. Niemira, ICSC's chief economist and director of research. "However, the August showing suggested that, so far, ripple effects from the supreme financial crunch on companies and markets has not spilled over to the consumer. But this remains a risk to monitor." Niemira expects September comp-store sales to increase by about 2.5%. |
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