(Update) Tokyo Dept. Store Sales Fall for 4th Year in ’05

Tokyo, Jan. 13 (Jiji Press)–Sales at department stores in Tokyo in 2005 fell 0.9 pct from the previous year, posting an annual decline for the fourth consecutive year, an industry group said Friday.

Sales totaled 1,909,508 million yen in the year, the Japan Department Stores Association said.

The size of drop shrank substantially from 3.4 pct in 2004 as sales picked up in the July-December second half.

Second-half sales inched up 0.4 pct from a year before after a 2.3 pct drop in the first half, thanks to the Japanese economy’s continued recovery and the stock market’s uptrend, association officials said. Luxury watches and jewelry particularly sold well, they said.

Also behind the second-half upturn was an improvement in clothing sales on the back of the government’s Cool Biz campaign for encouraging office workers to dress lightly in summer and a sharp fall in autumn and winter temperatures in Tokyo, the officials said.

Of the total sales in 2005, sales of clothes declined 0.9 pct. Sales of food and household goods fell 2.6 pct and 5.0 pct, respectively.

Sales of personal items, including shoes and accessories, grew 2.1 pct, and sales of miscellaneous goods, such as jewelry and cosmetics, were up 1.0 pct.

For December alone, Tokyo department store sales grew 2.1 pct from a year before to 223,490 million yen, showing a year-on-year rise for two months on end, the association said.

Sales of clothing increased 5.0 pct, the second consecutive rise, on the back of brisk demand for winter items. Sales of personal items were up 5.8 pct, growing for the fourth straight month, and sales of miscellaneous goods increased 6.4 pct.

Meanwhile, food sales were down 2.1 pct, and household goods sales dropped 5.0 pct.END