Japan retailing sector: Monthly data

Research evidence excerpt

Japan retailing sector: Monthly data

Global Markets Research

Japan retailing sector: Monthly data 1 July 2026

EQUITY: JAPAN RETAILING

Research Analysts

Workman Japan retailing

Shintaro Umeda - NSC

shintaro.umeda@nomura.com

June same-store sales down 8.8% +81 3 6703 1741

Hisahiro Yamaoka - NSC

Workman [7564] (Buy): June sales hisahiro.yamaoka@nomura.com

June sales: Lower than we expected as cool weather in early June dented sales of +81 3 6703 1680

summer merchandise

• Workman reported an 8.8% y-y decline in same-store sales for June 2026, versus our

assumption of a 5–10% rise, with a 10.3% decline in customer footfall and a 1.7% rise

in average customer spend. Calendar factors look to have dented sales by 1.2%.

• Cool weather across Japan resulted in a sharp y-y decline in fan-cooled clothing,

short-sleeve t-shirts, and cooling accessories. However, heavy rainfall ensured growth

in sales of rainwear, and recovery wear sales were also solid.

• Sales of the MEDiHEAL range of recovery wear look to have been in line with our

assumptions. June sales of these products appear to have been slightly below the

levels recorded in Feb–May. Even so, the slowdown in sales momentum came as no

surprise given shortages of summer merchandise and seasonal factors. We take a

positive view of ongoing demand for recovery wear.

• There were reportedly sharp declines in sales of trade-use summer apparel, including

fan-cooled clothing and workwear, and of summer accessories such as arm sleeves.

By contrast, sales of XShelter items and UV-blocking parkas look to have risen in a

rebound from opportunity losses caused by product shortages from May 2025

onwards. However, growth in sales of recovery wear and other mainstay items was