Sales rebound at department stores, fall in discount chains

Sales at local department stores rebounded in July, but discount chain sales continued to drop, preliminary government data showed Thursday.

According to the data by the Finance Ministry, department store sales rose 4.2 percent on-year in July, bouncing back from a 4.6 percent fall a month earlier.

Sales at discount chains, however, fell 4.5 percent in July, the second straight month of declines following a 5.9 percent drop in June.

The report also showed that sales of domestically produced passenger vehicles inched up 0.7 percent on-year in July, but the growth pace was much slower than the previous month’s 7.5 percent. Gasoline sales grew 2.7 percent in July from a year earlier, keeping their upward trend for three straight months. (Yonhap)