Australian shopping centre conglomerate Scentre Group has recorded a 2.1 per cent fall in department store sales in the third quarter of FY24 compared to the same period in 2019.
Scentre Group currently operates 42 Westfield shopping centres across Australia and New Zealand, with total sales for the third quarter up 2.4 per cent to $6.5 billion.
Department store sales came second last in growth behind ‘other’ retailing, which recorded a fall of 8.1 per cent. Other retailing includes gifts and souvenirs stores and discount variety.
Fashion sales recorded modest growth of 15.2 per cent and footwear sales were up by 9.7 per cent, with the largest five-year sales growth seen in leisure and sports at 39.3 per cent.
Meanwhile, discount department stores were up 29.8 per cent over the five-year period.
Department stores were also down in year-on-year terms. In the third quarter of FY24, department store sales were down 2.7 per cent, with fashion following close behind with a 1 per cent drop in sales.
Footwear sales barely nudged into positive territory with a 0.4 per cent lift in sales, with discount department stores up 0.6 per cent.
By geography, the largest five-year growth was recorded in New Zealand, up 42.8 per cent, followed by Queensland (25.3%), Western Australia (18.4%), Australian Capital Territory (17.2%) and South Australia (13.9%).
New South Wales and Victoria struck modest growth of 7 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.
For the 18 weeks to May 5, customer visitation across Westfield shopping centres was up by 2.8 million to 175 million.