WASHINGTON–Furniture and home furnishings stores suffered a loss of 5.4 percent in June, when compared with the same month a year ago, even as retail sales overall rose during the same time frame.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported this morning that June retail sales in general, excluding restaurants and bars, reached $345.9 billion during the month, an increase of 3 percent on a year-over-year basis, but virtually flat from May.
The furniture stores, which took in $9.3 billion, were down 1.4 percent from May.
Retailers specializing in appliances and electronics were down 0.6 percent from May, but were up a robust 5.5 percent over the year.
Department stores and mass merchants showed the opposite trend, as they were down 1.3 percent yearly but up 0.3 percent monthly.
Non-store retailers, such as home television shopping shows and Internet sites, among others, fared the best among retail types tracked by HFN. Their sales, at more than $27.3 billion, represented an 8.1 percent increase over the year, and a 0.8 percent rise over the month.