Monthly Survey of Large Retailers

All of the major commodity groups returned to positive territory for the month of July. Growth in sales was lead by health and personal care products, and home furnishings and electronics. The weakest sales growth was observed in clothing, footwear and accessories, which was up slightly from July 2002.

Overall sales amounted to $7.3 billion, an increase of 5.2% from July 2002 for the group of large retailers.

Health and personal care products posted the strongest sales growth in July, up 13.2% from July 2002. Sales were propelled upward by continued strength in the sale of prescription and over-the-counter drugs (which includes vitamins, herbal remedies and other health supplements). Toiletry and personal care product sales (excluding cosmetics and fragrances) were also strong in July, with an increase of 10.2%.

Sales growth of clothing, footwear and accessories continued to be slow in July for the group of large retailers, with flat sales on a year-over-year basis (+0.7%). Declining clothing and footwear prices continued to be a major factor in bringing down total sales at the cash register. Clothing prices dropped 4.6% from July 2002, and footwear was 3.4% less expensive than a year earlier. Much of the growth in this commodity group came from accessory sales such as luggage and leather goods (+8.3%) and jewellery and watches (+7.6%).

The 6.7% increase in home furnishing and electronic product sales in July masked volatility in individual commodity level sales. Household appliances declined 1.4% in July after strong year-over-year sales in May and June. Sales of home electronics, such as televisions and audio-video equipment, cameras, computer software, and telephones and home office supplies, surged ahead 17.2% from July 2002 - the largest increase in over a year.

Note: This survey includes large retailers mainly in the food, clothing, home furnishings, electronics, sporting goods, and general merchandise sectors. These retailers represent about 38% of total annual retail sales, excluding recreational and motor vehicle dealers. All data in this release are unadjusted for seasonality and all percentages are year-over-year changes.

Available on CANSIM: table 080-0009.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5027.

A data table is also available in the Canadian statistics module of Statistics Canada's website ().

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (1-877-421-3067; 613-951-3549; retailinfo@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Elton Cryderman (613-951-0669; elton.cryderman@statcan.gc.ca), Distributive Trades Division.