S.Korea Feb dept, discount store sales hit by Lunar New Year effect

Hyundai Department Store Co

30/03/2016 03:00

SEOUL, March 30 (Reuters) - Sales at South Korea's 
department and discount stores  dropped in February from a year 
ago on distortions caused by the earlier arrival of Lunar New 
Year this year compared to 2015, data from the trade ministry 
showed on Wednesday. 
    Combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai 
Department Store  069960.KS , Lotte Shopping  023530.KS  and 
Shinsegae Co  004170.LS  slipped 1.9 percent on-year, according 
to final data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. 
    That compared with a 9.0 percent rise in January. 
    Discount store sales over the same period dropped 7.0 
percent in February, after jumping 11.0 percent in the previous 
month. 
    The trade ministry said the traditional splurge in consumer 
spending seen during the Lunar New Year holiday had been split 
between January and February this year as the holiday fell early 
in February. 
    Last year, the holiday-spending spike had only been seen in 
February as the Lunar New Year was later in the month. 
    As a result, food sales at both department and discount 
stores tumbled in February in annual terms, falling 16.6 percent 
and 8.3 percent respectively. 
    However, the same data also showed the fall in department 
store sales was less steep this time around thanks to the 
beginning of the wedding season, which drove demand for 
furniture, big ticket items like televisions, high-end watches 
and jewelry. 
 
 (Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) 
 ((christine.kim@thomsonreuters.com; 822 3704 5665; Reuters 
Messaging: christine.kim.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA ECONOMY/RETAIL