The Retail Calendar differs from the traditional Gregorian calendar by maintaining the same number of weekends in comparable months. The 4-5-4 calendar is a popular Retail Calendar that defines each month to be either 4 weeks or 5 weeks.

In this format, the year is divided into 4 quarters, with monthly sets of 4 weeks - 5 weeks - 4 weeks.

This approach allows for more accurate YoY sales comparisons but introduces an interesting problem since 365 days in a year divides into 52 weeks + 1 day. To account for this extra day (while keeping in mind leap years), a 53rd week is "restated" in the Retail Calendar every 5 to 6 years.

How it works:

Since the 4-5-4 Retail Calendar ends in January, a 53rd week is determined to be necessary if more than 3 days are left in January after the 52nd week.

In 2012 for example, the 52nd week of the 4-5-4 Retail Calendar ends on Saturday, January 26. That leaves 5 days (January 27 - 31) remaining in the month of January and thus requires a 53rd week to be added (January 27 - February 2).

In the Restated Calendar, this additional week is accounted for by pushing every week in the Retail Calendar backward by 1 week. As a result, the first week of the 2012 fiscal year is disregarded (represented as Week 0 in Toolio). Please see below for the Restated and Non-Restated 2012 Retail Calendars.

Restated 2012 Retail Calendar:

Non-Restated 2012 Retail Calendar:

By making this adjustment, we greatly improve YoY comparability at the weekly level. Restated Calendars help ensure that high-sales holidays fall in the same week each year. You can quickly switch between Restated and Non-Restated formats using the Toolio Retail Calendar.