Six Straight Months of Sales Declines for Large Retail Stores
The Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade, and Industry released statistics showing that sales at large retail stores (department stores and supermarkets) in the Kyushu/Okinawa Prefecture region in January fell 3.9% from the year-before period to 140.8 billion yen. This marks the sixth consecutive monthly decline for the indicator. The downturn was particularly sharp for department stores, where sales fell 9.7%. Both a slump in consumption and poor weekend weather were cited as reasons for the declines.