During December 2009, same-store sales among major retail stores was the best that had been recorded for the complete year, which made way for a better-than-expected holiday season and served as the first small step towards retail business jumping back into a strong position for 2010, according to a retail trade group.

As many as 32 retailers posted a 2.8% year-on-year increase in comparable store sales. The figure has been shared by the International Council of Shopping Centers, and was termed as the retailers' best monthly improvement since April 2008.

Although the trade group expects January to be a flat month, or post a mere 1% increase at its beat, things are set to improve over the year and 2010 is expected to show a 3-3.5% hike in comparable- store sales, and this would be the best gain since the 4.8% rise that was recorded for 2006.

The holiday shopping season, which officially started in November, was initially going slow, but picked up momentum later, which lead the two-month season to post a comparable-store rise on
1.8%, which has been better than the 1% expected by ICSC.