Although Valentine's Day drove up traffic in several...

Although Valentine's Day drove up traffic in several categories versus the previous month, those categories actually experienced declines when compared to February of the prior year. Conversely, heavy interest in the 2006 Winter Olympics propelled the Sports category to a 16 percent traffic gain and 32 percent increase in engagement over February 2005. It appears that the Olympics took away mindshare from Valentine's Day during the middle part of the month, possibly resulting in softer sales for Valentine's Day retailers.