Sales of department stores nationwide in the first half of January to June were more than 10% higher than the same period last year due to the reaction to the impact of the first state of emergency, but before the spread of the new corona infection. Compared to the adult, it decreased by more than 27%, which was a big drop.

According to the Japan Department Stores Association, sales of 191 department stores nationwide in the first half of the year from January to June exceeded the same period last year by 10.3% compared to existing stores.



In addition to the reaction to the impact of the first state of emergency, the high net worth consumption of watches and jewelery by the wealthy has made a big recovery, raising the overall level.



However, compared to the first half of the year before the spread of the infection, it decreased by 27.3%, and it is still difficult to recover the pre-corona level.



On the other hand, sales in June fell 1.6% from the same period last year, the first negative figure in four months, due to the effects of weekend closures and shortened business hours due to the third state of emergency.



Department store companies are trying to secure sales by responding to changes in their lives due to the corona disaster, such as strengthening home delivery services for groceries whose demand is growing due to so-called “nest-filled consumption”.