After an increase in store trips during the December holidays, store visits once again dropped below year ago levels during February. At the same time, the pattern of highly elevated trip baskets continued, particularly during February when visits dropped below year ago levels. This means continued emphasis on optimizing each trip through excellence in in-store merchandising, in-stock performance, cross-merchandising and meal solutions.
Sales of all food and beverage related items remained elevated from January’s strong increase of +12.0%. February sales increased 11.8% over the weeks ending February 3 through February 28 versus the same weeks in 2020. Both months are up significantly from a subdued December (+8.1%).