On a positive note, sales advanced by at least 1.0% in the furniture and electronics (+1.4%), building supplies (+1.1%) and pharmacy (+1.0%) sectors in August.
Miscellaneous retailers and clothing stores lead the declines
For the sector as a whole, miscellaneous retailers such as office supply, sporting goods, hobby, music and book stores continued to lose sales in August (-2.8%).
Sales have generally been falling since May 2005, after posting a strong 3.6% jump in the first quarter.
Similarly, sales in the clothing sector dropped 2.0% in August. Retailers in this sector have seen their sales
fall since May 2005, after enjoying a 3.5% sales gain in
the first quarter.
Spending in general merchandise stores fell 0.5% in August, reflecting the weak sales performance posted by these retailers since the start of 2005. Sales in August were actually 0.5% below the January level.
Within the sector, both department stores and other general merchandise stores have shown essentially the same sales stagnation since the start of the year.
Shoppers reduced their spending by 0.5% in food and beverage stores in August, leaving sales at essentially the same level as in May. All categories of retailers in this sector showed sales declines in August.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
