According to the Japan Chain Stores Association (56 firms, 9,719 stores), same-stores sales in September 2017 decreased by 0.3% from the same month of last year to 1,004,938 million yen.
Apparel sales were strong (up 1.4% to 75,778 million yen), while sales of household goods were low (down 2.1% to 191,347 million yen), and those of food were sluggish (down 0.1% to 677,906 million yen).
The breakdown of apparel sales was: men’s wear, 12,779 million yen (up 1.2%): women’s wear, 21,657 million yen (up 0.9%); and other garments. 41,341 million yen (up 1.8%). With the decrease in temperature, men’s jackets and long-sleeve business shirts sold well, along with women’s formal wear, three-quarter sleeve shirts and skants. Women’s and men’s pajamas were also favorable.