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Strong food sales push up Japan’s February department store sales

March 23, 2008
By Ken Worsley


After having fallen 2.1% in January, Japan’s nationwide department store sales grew 0.9% in February, according to the Japan Department Stores Association. The survey covered 279 shops operated by 93 firms that were open for at least one year.

By category, here’s a breakdown for February sales figures:

  • Clothing: 34.6% of total sales, down 1.6%
  • Personal Effects: 12.2% of total sales, down 1.0%
  • Miscellaneous Goods: 15.3% of total sales, up 0.1%
  • Household Goods: 5.5% of total sales, down 0.5%
  • Food: 26.8% of total sales, up 6.3%
  • Services: 1.1% of total sales, up 9.2%
  • Other: 1.6% of total sales, down 10.3%

The Kinki region saw the greatest increase in sales, at 2.6%, while Hokkaido saw a 6.8% decrease. Sales in Yokohama rose 3.9% while those in Sapporo fell 2.9%.

Tokyo sales were up 2.1% in February, with food sales leading the charge, showing an 8.3% increase and accounting for 24.1% of overall sales.

What we notice about this data is that department stores are seeing strong growth in sales due to increased revenue from food products. With prices of many items set to be hiked even further over the coming months, we have to wonder if household will continue to spend for upmarket items at department stores, especially with wages seemingly not showing the sort of growth that would be expected to provide support for sales.

Filed Under Department Stores, Economic Reports, Retail 

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One Response to “Strong food sales push up Japan’s February department store sales”

  1. March consumer price index up 1.2% - is a pull out of deflation coming at the wrong time for the wrong reasons? Japan Economy News & Blog - Business, Economy, Marketing and Economic Reports on April 28th, 2008 11:24 pm

    […] Over the past year, Ota has been very vocal in her assertions that Japan has not yet pulled out of deflation. At this time, her position on deflation is becoming even more interesting to look at. Data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed that retail sales rose 1.1% in March - led by a 4% increase in fuel sales. Food and drink sales also seem to be benefiting from increased prices, as they rose 0.6%, as supermarket sales were up 1.4% in March. At the same time, however, clothing sales fell 0.3% while department store sales fell 1.2% in March after having risen 0.9% in February. […]

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