Sales of apparel, both in department stores and in retail chain stores, across Japan decreased in the month of October 2017. The typhoons that hit the country for a fortnight during the month was the main reason for decrease in sales. However, sales of winterwear like coats and sweaters increased during the month due to a fall in temperature.

According to the Japan Department Stores Association, its 80 member firms that together own 226 stores recorded apparel sales of 159,858 million yen in October 2017. This is a drop of 4.3 per cent compared to the same month of 2016.

Category-wise, menswear sales dropped 0.4 per cent to 36,667 million yen, womenswear fell 5.3 per cent to 101,774 million yen while kidswear was down 4.2 per cent to 10,640 million yen, the department stores association data showed.

Meanwhile, apparel sales declined by 1.8 per cent to 89,609 million yen at 9,744 stores owned by 56 member firms of the Japan Chain Stores Association during the month. Of this, sales of menswear fell 2.9 per cent to 18,017 million yen, womenswear by 3.9 per cent to 25,127 million yen and other garments by 0.2 per cent to 46,464 million yen.

In menswear, suits, outerwear, casual shirts and training wear sales were up, while sales of casual trousers dipped. In womenswear, items that saw sales go up were knitwear, jackets, outerwear and cut-and-sewn articles, whereas sales of casual pants, blouses, long-sleeve shirts and blouses decreased. Among other garments, men’s and women’s pajamas, men’s and women’s innerwear, and rainwear and outerwear (boys and girls) sold well. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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