ShopperTrak Report: Back-to-school retail sales up 3.7%; traffic flat

A report released Friday by ShopperTrak found that total GAFO (general merchandise, apparel, furniture, sporting goods, electronics, hobby, books and other related store sales) retail sales for back-to-school 2010 -- the month of August -- rose 3.7%, while the company’s Retail Traffic Index reported total U.S. foot traffic was flat for the same period as compared with last year.ShopperTrak’s National Retail Sales Estimate determined that both sales and traffic finished above the its forecast of a 3.5% sales rise and 1.4% traffic decline as pent-up demand and favorable weather boosted sales throughout the back-to-school season.“Retailers should be pleased with