According to the Japan Chain Stores Association (56 firms, 9,570 stores), same-store stores in July amounted to 1,104,342 million yen, thus remaining on the same level as sales in July 2016.
Sales of food and apparel decreased slightly, while those of household goods were strong centering on seasonal articles.
July sales of apparel decreased by 0.4% to 97,551 million yen: men’s wear, 18,065 million yen (down 0.5%); women’s wear, 31,228 million yen (down 1.4%); and other garments, 48,258 million yen (up 0.4%).
In men’s wear, sales increased for jackets, lightweight long-sleeve dress shirts, short pants and T-shirts, but sales were sluggish for suits, slacks, short-sleeve shirts and casual pants.
In women’s wear, sales were strong for shirts, blouses and casual pants, but weak for formal wear, knitwear and cut-and-sewn articles.