Superstorm Sandy knocked off nearly $4 billion of retail sales last week in the hard-hit Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region, nearly 20 percent of the usual total, according to a figures released Tuesday by a retail data service.
MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse says Tuesday that the region, which accounts for about 24 percent of retail sales nationwide, typically generates $18.7 billion in sales for the week ended Saturday. But revenue came in at about $15 billion. The figures exclude auto sales. That dragged down the nationwide sales total for the week ended Saturday from an expected $78 billion to about and estimated $74 billion.
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