Retail sales drop 13 p.c.

Press, 11 March 1987, Page 9

Retail sales drop 13 p.c.

The volume of retail sales in New Zealand in the December quarter of 1986 decreased 13.2 per cent when compared with the volume of sales in the preceding quarter. According to figures given by the Statistics Department large decreases were recorded by furniture stores (down 42.1 per cent), hardware stores (down 21.6 per cent), household appliance stores (down 17.6 per cent) and clothing and textile stores (down 15.8 per cent). These stores recorded the highest increases in sales in the September quarter of 1986, in response to pre-GST spending. Average retail sales per head of population for the

December quarter were $1873. Total retail sales for the December quarter were $6.1 billion, an increase of 1.1 per cent compared with the same period in 1985.

The President of the Canterbury-Westland Retailers’ Association, Mr Mark Ballantyne, said the December quarter volume decrease was widely expected because of the boom before GST. October was a very poor month for sales, but things had picked up again as Christmas approached. Preliminary indications for January and February were for marginally better sales than last year, but certainly not enough to keep pace with inflation.