Retailers get a back-to-school sales boost

September 1, 2012 - 9:23 am | Category: Money

Finally, there’s some good news about the economy. Sales at major retail chain stores were up 3.6-percent in August, besting the two-percent gain predicted by analysts, according to a Thomson Reuters’ survey of 17 retailers.

Analysts attributed the gain to back-to-school promotions that offered consumers deals on clothes, backpacks and school supplies.

Ken Perkins, founder of Retail Metrics Inc., said, “Back-to-school sales were really a driving catalyst to one of the highest sales increases we have seen in a year or so.”