Local News

The Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry announced that large retail stores in the Kyushu – Okinawa region in April totaled 118.3 billion yen. This was a 4.4% decline from the year-before period and the 21st consecutive monthly decline. The drop was attributed to consumer sentiment to cutback on purchases and unseasonable weather. In contrast, sales at convenience stores rose 0.2% during the same period, the first increase for those outlets in 10 months.