5 major dept. stores see sales fall sharply in Jan.

TOKYO, Feb. 2 Kyodo -
Sales at five of the nation's major department stores fell in January by
margins ranging from 8.4 to 12.2 percent from a year earlier as consumers
continued to cut back on spending, according to data released by the five on
Monday.
The deepening economic doldrums worked to reduce spending, particularly on
clothing and jewelry, while scuttling efforts by the five to spur sales via
bargain sales campaigns for winter clothing, officials of the companies said.
''The scope of sales falls is sharper than that we saw just after the burst of
the asset-inflated bubble economy (in the early 1990s),'' a spokesperson for
one department store said. ''As results for New Year's marketing campaigns,
January's were the harshest we've ever seen.''
By store, J. Front Retailing Co., formed through the 2007 merger of Daimaru
Inc. and Matsuzakaya Holdings Co., said sales at Matsuzakaya dropped 12.2
percent, while those at Daimaru fell 8.4 percent.
The margin of fall at Matsuzakaya which relies on sales in the Tokai area
surrounding Aichi Prefecture, home to Toyota Motor Corp. and its numerous auto
parts suppliers, was the sharpest among the five.
Since last November, the area has been reeling from the so-called ''Toyota
shock,'' or economic ramifications that have followed the carmaker revising
downward its fiscal 2008 group operating profit forecast 73.6 percent to 600
billion yen in the wake of slower global sales. Toyota has since further cut
its projection to a group operating loss of 150 billion yen and is now rumored
to again slash the forecast to a loss of around 400 billion yen.
Takashimaya Co. said sales dropped 10.1 percent due to flagging results at its
main retail outlets in Yokohama and Osaka.
Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd., Japan's largest department store chain, said
sales at subsidiary Isetan Co. fell 9.1 percent, while those at another arm,
Mitsukoshi Ltd., dropped 11.3 percent.
==Kyodo