Retail sales only slightly up

The US chain recorded sales in the retail segment and related services that remained almost unchanged in 2002. In this division the group generated sales of US $ 31.459 bn (€ 29.631 bn), or 0.4 per cent more than the previous year. This results in a decline of 5.6 per cent in like-for-like terms. The stores in the hardlines segment recorded sales down by 4.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis. The stores offering the full product range showed growth of 0.9 per cent.