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"The last few weeks of December helped to lift the full- month performance above our earlier expectation"
- Michael Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC
Retail sales at shops open more than a year may have increased 4.5 per cent in December, more than expected, as Americans pursued holiday discounts, said the International Council of Shopping Centers in a statement on Wednesday.
"The last few weeks of December helped to lift the full- month performance above our earlier expectation," Michael Niemira, chief economist at the ICSC, said in the statement on Wednesday.
"There was a level of pent-up demand, and people decided the deals were worth taking," said Craig Johnson, president of consulting firm Customer Growth Partners.