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Retail sales edged down 0.1% in current dollars to $35.9 billion in July. Results were mixed at the subsector level as lower sales were reported in 5 of 11 subsectors.
When price changes are factored in, retail sales in volume terms edged down 0.2%.
The largest decrease among the subsectors was registered at furniture and home furnishing stores, where sales fell 8.4%. This decline comes after sales had been trending upward over the past year and a half. Sales at home furnishings stores were mainly responsible for this decline, reporting a drop of 15.0%. Furniture store sales were down 4.5%.
Sales fell 4.9% at electronics and appliance stores, completely offsetting a large gain in the previous month. Sales in this subsector have been trending upward since October 2009.
Sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers decreased 2.3%, a fourth consecutive monthly decline.
The largest increase was a 2.4% gain at general merchandise stores after three months of decreases.
Motor vehicle and parts dealers' sales increased 1.0%. Within this subsector, new car dealers reported gains of 1.1%, reflecting higher sales of new motor vehicles, according to the New Motor Vehicle Sales Survey. Other motor vehicle dealers (+1.7%) and used car dealers (+0.3%) recorded increases for a second month. Automotive parts, accessories and tire stores (-0.7%) posted lower sales.
Sales at gasoline stations rose 0.7% after three consecutive monthly sales declines.
Sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores increased 0.9%. This subsector has been trending upwards since April 2009. Within the subsector, sales rose at shoe stores (+1.7%) and clothing stores (+1.0%), while they fell at jewellery, luggage and leather goods stores (-0.7%).
Note to readers
All the data in this release are seasonally adjusted and in current dollars, unless otherwise noted.
Total retail sales by volume are measured by deflating values in current dollars of the various trade groups using consumer price indexes. This retail sales in chained dollars series (2002) is a chain Fisher volume index with 2002 as the reference year.
Starting with the April 21, 2010, release of February 2010 data, the presentation of results makes direct use of the North American Industry Classification System instead of its trade group variant (see concordance table).
Nova Scotia posts the largest decline
Increased sales in seven provinces were offset by declines in the other three. The largest sales drop was in Nova Scotia, where sales decreased 5.3%. This province posted the largest increase in June.
Retailers in British Columbia (-0.4%) and Ontario (-0.3%) also registered sales declines in July.
Manitoba (+1.6%) saw the largest growth in sales, a third consecutive monthly increase.
Quebec retailers registered a 0.5% sales increase in July after three consecutive monthly decreases.
Table 1
| July 2009 | June 2010r | July 2010p | June to July 2010 | July 2009 to July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Canada | 34,713 | 35,881 | 35,856 | -0.1 | 3.3 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 601 | 603 | 607 | 0.7 | 1.1 |
| Prince Edward Island | 138 | 144 | 144 | 0.2 | 4.5 |
| Nova Scotia | 1,012 | 1,081 | 1,024 | -5.3 | 1.2 |
| New Brunswick | 836 | 862 | 868 | 0.7 | 3.9 |
| Quebec | 7,851 | 8,049 | 8,090 | 0.5 | 3.0 |
| Ontario | 12,374 | 12,827 | 12,792 | -0.3 | 3.4 |
| Manitoba | 1,250 | 1,297 | 1,318 | 1.6 | 5.4 |
| Saskatchewan | 1,217 | 1,236 | 1,237 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Alberta | 4,716 | 4,844 | 4,859 | 0.3 | 3.0 |
| British Columbia | 4,589 | 4,805 | 4,786 | -0.4 | 4.3 |
| Yukon | 44 | 46 | 46 | -1.0 | 3.9 |
| Northwest Territories | 58 | 59 | 58 | -3.2 | -1.1 |
| Nunavut | 27 | 27 | 28 | 1.2 | 3.0 |
Table 2
| July 2009 | June 2010r | July 2010p | June to July 2010 | July 2009 to July 2010 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| $ millions | % change | ||||
| Total retail trade | 34,713 | 35,881 | 35,856 | -0.1 | 3.3 |
| Total excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers | 27,270 | 28,078 | 27,977 | -0.4 | 2.6 |
| Total excluding motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations | 23,776 | 24,352 | 24,225 | -0.5 | 1.9 |
| Motor vehicle and parts dealers | 7,443 | 7,803 | 7,879 | 1.0 | 5.9 |
| New car dealers | 5,873 | 6,235 | 6,303 | 1.1 | 7.3 |
| Used car dealers | 473 | 476 | 477 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Other motor vehicle dealers | 590 | 582 | 592 | 1.7 | 0.3 |
| Automotive parts, accessories and tire stores | 508 | 511 | 507 | -0.7 | -0.2 |
| Furniture and home furnishing stores | 1,206 | 1,296 | 1,186 | -8.4 | -1.7 |
| Furniture stores | 791 | 810 | 773 | -4.5 | -2.3 |
| Home furnishings stores | 415 | 486 | 413 | -15.0 | -0.4 |
| Electronics and appliance stores | 1,124 | 1,186 | 1,128 | -4.9 | 0.3 |
| Building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers | 2,302 | 2,294 | 2,242 | -2.3 | -2.6 |
| Food and beverage stores | 8,385 | 8,610 | 8,606 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| Supermarkets and other grocery (except convenience) stores | 5,967 | 6,148 | 6,142 | -0.1 | 2.9 |
| Convenience stores | 564 | 560 | 558 | -0.4 | -1.1 |
| Specialty food stores | 382 | 408 | 406 | -0.4 | 6.3 |
| Beer, wine and liquor stores | 1,471 | 1,494 | 1,500 | 0.4 | 2.0 |
| Health and personal care stores | 2,598 | 2,626 | 2,598 | -1.1 | 0.0 |
| Gasoline stations | 3,493 | 3,725 | 3,752 | 0.7 | 7.4 |
| Clothing and clothing accessories stores | 1,927 | 2,027 | 2,045 | 0.9 | 6.1 |
| Clothing stores | 1,500 | 1,585 | 1,600 | 1.0 | 6.7 |
| Shoe stores | 227 | 227 | 231 | 1.7 | 1.6 |
| Jewellery, luggage and leather goods stores | 200 | 216 | 214 | -0.7 | 7.2 |
| Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores | 946 | 940 | 947 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| General merchandise stores | 4,354 | 4,467 | 4,574 | 2.4 | 5.1 |
| Miscellaneous store retailers | 933 | 907 | 899 | -0.9 | -3.7 |
It is possible to consult the tables of unadjusted data by industry and by province and territory from the Tables by subject module of our website.
For information on related indicators, refer to the Latest statistics page on our website.
Available on CANSIM: tables 080-0020 and 080-0021.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 2406 and 2408.
The July 2010 issue of the publication Retail Trade (63-005-X, free) will be available shortly.
Data on retail trade for August will be released on October 22.
For more information, or to order data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-877-421-3067; 613-951-3549; retailinfo@statcan.gc.ca). For analytical information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Mark Switzer (613-951-7137), Distributive Trades Division.
