Scentre Group: Department store sales have fallen in five years

Australian shopping center conglomerate Scentre Group has recorded a 2.1 percent decline in department store sales in the third quarter of FY24 compared to the same period in 2019.

Scentre Group currently operates 42 Westfield shopping centers in Australia and New Zealand, with total third-quarter sales up 2.4 percent to $6.5 billion.

Department store sales came in second in terms of growth, behind ‘other’ retail, which recorded a decline of 8.1 percent. Other retail activities include gift and souvenir shops and a variety of discounts.

Fashion sales recorded a modest growth of 15.2 percent and footwear sales increased by 9.7 percent, with the largest sales growth in the past five years seen in the leisure and sports sector, at 39.3 percent.

Meanwhile, discount department stores rose 29.8 percent over the five-year period.

Department stores also declined year-on-year. In the third quarter of FY24, department store sales fell 2.7 percent, while fashion followed closely with a 1 percent decline in sales.

Shoe sales barely entered positive territory with a turnover increase of 0.4 percent, while discount department stores rose by 0.6 percent.

Geographically, the largest five-year growth was recorded in New Zealand, with an increase of 42.8 percent, followed by Queensland (25.3%), Western Australia (18.4%), Australian Capital Territory (17.2% ) and South Australia (13.9%).

New South Wales and Victoria experienced modest growth of 7 percent and 7.5 percent respectively.

During the 18 weeks to May 5, customer visits to Westfield shopping centers rose by 2.8 million to 175 million.