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Japan January supermarket sales: Down for 13th straight month

Yes, we’re a bit late with this, but we figure better late than never. This weekend brought some major server upgrades and the inevitable headaches, so we’re a bit behind. Let’s play catchup:

On Thursday, the Japan Chain Stores Association announced its monthly report on Japan’s supermarket sales. As you can see from the headline, they weren’t so good. The survey takes into account those supermarkets that have been open for at least one year, which adds up to 8846 shops owned by 84 companies. The report shows that sales declined 2.4 percent in January when compared to January of 2006.

Sales have dropped in 37 of the past 38 months. Last month, we posted that Japan’s December supermarket sales had fallen 3.8% against the figures from a year earlier.

January 2007 supermarket sales broken down by categories:

• Food: -0.2% (+1.0% change from last month), 58.8% of total revenue (+0.6% change from last month)

• Household Products: -2.9% (-2.1% change from last month), 20.4% of revenue (-1.6% change from last month)

• Clothing: -4.3% (+5.6% change from last month), 14.2% of revenue (+1.1% change from last month)

• Miscellaneous Items: -10.6% (+6.8% change from last month), 6.3% of revenue (no change from last month)

• Services: -48.4% (-3.9% change from last month), 0.4% of revenue (no change from last month)

In the ‘news’ section at the bottom of the report, we learn that Summit has begun charging for plastic bags at one of its shops in Suginami, Tokyo, as has Aeon at one of its shops in Kyoto. This is a move I support 100%, since both of my local ‘OK’ supermarkets charge for bags, and what’s fair is fair.

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