Department stores' 2008 sales rise on weaker won

SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- Sales at South Korea's top three department stores rose
solidly in 2008 from a year ago as a weaker won prompted consumers to increase
their domestic spending, industry watchers said Sunday.

The South Korean won tumbled 28 percent against the U.S. dollar last year from a
year earlier, becoming one of the worst-performing currencies in the world. It
also plunged nearly 28 percent against the Japanese yen.
Three department stores -- Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae -- said their sales grew
4 percent to 13 percent annually in 2008. Lotte's sales climbed 7.5 percent to
8.4 trillion won (US$6.3 billion), with Hyundai's revenue growing 4.3 percent to
4.4 trillion won. Shinsegae's sales rose 13 percent to 3.2 trillion won.
Industry observers attributed the solid gains to the South Korean won's
depreciation against the U.S. dollar, luring consumers back to local department
stores as they shunned overseas travel and shopping amid a deepening global
economic downturn.
The Japanese yen's rise to the local currency was another factor in department
stores' sales growth, they said.
The number of Japanese tourists to South Korea is expected to jump nearly 30
percent on-year in the fourth quarter on a stronger yen, according to data from
the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO).
However, the growth rate of department store sales has been on the decline since
the second half of last year, affected by the global economic crisis, they added.
ksnam@yna.co.kr
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