CHICAGO — September and third-quarter 2010 sales were down in all regions from the prior year, according to this month’s StatShot Survey. However, the sales declines are no longer the double-digit losses seen early in the “Great Recession.”
Midwestern operators fared the best in September, recording a decrease of 1.9% in sales from the prior year after a slight uptick in August. In the West, sales were down 3.1%, the South lost 3.8%, and the Northeast shed 3.9%. Nationwide, sales were down an average of 2.5%.