Sales at South Korea's major discount outlet chains drop

Sales at South Korea's major discount outlet chains dropped in June from a year earlier, with sales of major department store chains also shrinking, the government said Thursday.
Combined sales at the country's three major discount store chains dropped 5.9% on-year last month, marking a turnaround from an on-year gain of 1.2% in the previous month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
"The overall sales decreased partly due to a cut in the number of working days last month, but also due to a drop in sales of seasonal goods prompted by abnormally low temperatures," the ministry said in a press release.
In June, the total number of purchases at the three discount outlet chains dropped 6.4% on-year while the average amount of each purchase inched up 0.2%.
The three discount outlet chains are Lotte Mart, E-Mart and Homeplus, according to (Yonhap) news agency.
Combined sales at the country's three major department store chains -- Hyundai, Shinsegae and Lotte -- slipped 4.6% on-year despite a 0.7% gain in the average amount of each purchase as the total number of purchases at the department stores dropped 5.2%.
Combined sales of what are commonly called super supermarkets, operated by large retailers, dropped 4.2% on-year.
Sales at convenience stores, on the other hand, gained 6.3% from a year earlier last month.