Large retail outlets, department stores report weak sales in October

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Yonhap) -- Weak consumer demand caused major discount outlets to
post their second straight month of negative growth in October, while department
store sales remained unchanged from the year before, a government report said
Monday.

The combined sales of the nation's top three discount stores edged down 0.7
percent year-on-year during the cited month as demand for durable goods like
consumer electronics fell 13.9 percent, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
The slight dip is an improvement over the 9.2 percent drop tallied for September.
It said that while groceries that make a sizeable part of sales at discount
outlets grew 4 percent from the year before, clothing, sporting goods and
miscellaneous products all fell into minus territory.
For department stores, the ministry said sales did not grow vis-a-vis October
2007, as demand for women's clothing and household goods dropped 12.5 percent and
8.4 percent respectively.
The latest findings, however, said that sales of luxury goods and miscellaneous
products grew by double digits.
In September, sales decreased 0.3 percent on year at department stores, the first
drop since December, 2007.
The ministry, meanwhile, said the average amount of money paid by shoppers at
department stores dipped 0.5 percent to 76,203 won (US$54.5), while those for
large retail outlets edged up 1.4 percent to 43,049 won.
The monthly report is based on sales figures obtained from Lotte, Shinsegae and
Hyundai department stores, along with comparable figures from Lottemart, E-mart
and Homeplus discount stores. The report is used as one of the key indicators of
South Korea's current consumer sentiment.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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