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Bloomberg
Shares in a range of Japanese retailers gained following a surge in sales at furniture depot Nitori Holdings Co and casual fashion retailer Shimamura Co, an early indication of pent-up demand from local shoppers as the threat of the coronavirus subsided.
Nitori same-store sales jumped 47% in June from the previous year, the most on record in data going back to 2012, while Shimamura saw a 27% increase.
The two companies are early reporters of retail data in Japan, with the figures released covering the period from May 21 to June 20. Japan’s coronavirus state of emergency was lifted in stages from May 14, before being fully ended on May 25.
Shimamura shares rose as much as 7.3% in Tokyo on Wednesday, while Nitori added as much as 2.5%. The moves were echoed in other retailers which are set to report monthly data early in July, including United Arrows Ltd.