Sales downward

From the headquarters of the American co-operative Ace Hardware comes the announcement that sales in the first quarter were US $ 830.7 mio or 2.4 per cent down on the same period last year. Supplies of goods to domestic stores were US $ 36.0 mio down. This compares with a sales increase of 36.5 per cent in the co-op's international operations, which mainly resulted from higher sales through retailers in the Middle East. The network of affiliated stores came to a total of 4 464 at the end of the quarter, a figure that includes 20 new arrivals and 47 departures.