The Retail 4-5-4 Calendar is a standardised retail calendar published by the National Retail Federation that divides each quarter into 4+5+4 weeks for sales-comparability reporting.
Quarter shape
Each quarter follows a fixed 13-week pattern:
- Month 1 — 4 weeks (28 days).
- Month 2 — 5 weeks (35 days).
- Month 3 — 4 weeks (28 days).
Four quarters of 13 weeks total 52 weeks, or 364 days. Each retail month always contains the same number of weekends, so weekly and monthly sales figures stay comparable year over year.
52-week and 53-week years
A 52-week 4-5-4 year leaves 1 unaccounted day per solar year. The NRF inserts a 53rd week approximately every 5 to 6 years to realign the calendar. The next NRF 53-week year is fiscal 2028.
Where it is used
US chains including Walmart, Target, and Macy's report earnings on the 4-5-4 calendar. Australian retailers such as Coles and Woolworths apply the same structure for weekly trading reports, though their fiscal-year start dates differ from the NRF default of late January or early February.