On the 1st, J. Front Retailing announced preliminary July sales figures. Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores saw a 0.7% decrease compared to the previous year. Six stores, including the Daimaru Tokyo store, saw an increase of 30.9%, while the remaining nine stores saw year-on-year declines. The department store business, including the Hakata, Shimonoseki, and Kochi Daimaru locations, also saw a 0.9% decrease. While both Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Store and the department store business had exceeded year-on-year results for 11 consecutive months up until last month, sales have taken a breather. The Daimaru Tokyo store, which led the overall trend, was also showing strong performance, along with the Daimaru Urawa Parco store (up 5.0%), the Daimaru Suma store (up 7.5%), and the Matsuzakaya Nagoya store (up 2.3%). Matsuzakaya Nagoya saw its ninth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, thanks to the ongoing effects of the food section renovation carried out on June 19th.

Due to the heatwave, sales of summer merchandise such as umbrellas and sunglasses increased, and watches, jewelry, and luxury brands also remained strong. However, the clearance sale, which was brought forward to June 28th, pre-empted July demand, significantly impacting sales. In addition, the fact that July had one fewer Sunday than last year also played a negative role.

Although July sales did not reach the same level as last year, the total for June and July saw a 3.8% increase over the previous year for Daimaru Matsuzakaya Department Stores, and a 3.6% increase for the department store business as a whole. The brought-forward clearance sale significantly boosted June sales. Mid-year gift sales are also performing well this summer.