Department store sales in October dropped 10.5 percent from a year earlier on a same-store basis, falling for the 20th consecutive month as the economic downturn and unfavorable weather discouraged consumer spending, an industry body said Thursday.
The rate of decline was the sharpest for the month of October since comparable data became available in 1965. Sales in the reporting month totaled ¥513.55 billion, the Japan Department Store Association said.
Sales of pricey items suffered as consumers were tightening their budgets because of their falling income and anxiety amid the recession, the association said.
Seichi Iioka, a senior association official, said yearend sales are "expected to become tougher."