Sales at 59 department stores around the world fell on average 1.6 percent in 2023, according to tabulations by the International Association of Department Stores.
In a release Monday, the IADS blamed “significant market uncertainty, slow economic growth and unfavorable interest rate environments” for weighing on its members’ numbers that year, the most recent data available.
The negative sales trend contrasts with growth in 2021 and 2022, the post-COVID-19 peak, and “growth has now stabilized across the retail sector.”
In 2023, the IADS noted that standalone department stores in the U.S. fared better than ones owned by a group, registering flat to slightly positive year-on-year growth.
In Asia-Pacific, only department stores in India (Shopper’s Stop and Lifestyle) and the Philippines (SM and Robinsons Retail) registered a positive sales trend.
Meanwhile, department stores in Europe logged increases of less than 1 percent, with department stores owned by groups contributing a higher share than pre-COVID-19 to their parent companies’ total retail sales.
Looking ahead, the IADS cited uncertainty headlined by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff-led economic policy, and a possible U.S. ban of TikTok, deemed “an essential media channel that drives trends and influences consumer behavior in the fashion industry.”
Meanwhile, Galeries Lafayette is slated to open its first department store in Mumbai this year, in partnership with Aditya Birla Group, with a second in Delhi to follow in 2026. Vietnam is also seen as a key emerging market.
The IADS said it isolates the impact of sales growth from exchange-rate impacts, with financial data refined and harmonized over the calendar year 2023 to provide a comparable basis.
Member department stores include Nordstrom, Macy’s Group, Kohl’s and Dillard’s in the U.S.; New World, Dashang and Golden Eagle in China; Takashimaya, Isetan Mitsukoshi and Kinetsu in Japan; Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Liberty and John Lewis in the U.K., and David Jones and Myer in Australia.
