The BlackBox Index for February 2019 Disappoints…

Earlier today (Thursday, March 7th), we learned that the BlackBox Index of samestore sales for February 2019 declined by -0.6%, with same-store traffic down by -3.7%. The -0.6% showing for February 2019 marks meaningful sequential deceleration from the +2.0% number from January 2019 and the +2.0% figure from December 2018, which had been the best monthly numbers since August 2015. February was hampered to a large degree by weather (although we’d note January experienced some bad weather too, and January clearly seemed to shrug off that issue much more easily), particularly on the east coast and in the midwest. (February 2019 same-store sales were positive in California, the southeast, and the southwest.)

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