The retail in dustry of the city counted 21.663
business establishments. 150.997 persons engaged and annual sales
of 3.0667 trillion yen as of June 1. 2004. In annual sales. the
national share of the city’s retail industry accounted for 2.3%.
By type of business. general supermarkets.
specialized supermarkets. and specialized stores declined from
2002 to 2004 in both number of establishments and annual sales.
with a particularly marked decline for supermarkets specializing
in clothing. On the other hand. department stores and convenience
stores recorded an increase in both number of establishments and
annual sales. In particular. conveniencestores that are open 24hours
a day showed steady growth during the same period.
In 2005.the total annual sales at department
stores and supermarkets in the city significantly increased from
the previous year by 4.1% due largely to the economic effect of
hosting EXPO 2005 Aichi.Japan.while they decreasedin all other
largecities.There have been frequent increases in floor space
and refurbishing at these stores.The floor sales area of department
stores has also been increasing.
In the geographical distribution of retail establishments.
Naka Ward and Nakamura Ward account for 23.9% of the total number
of establishments and 35.4% of the total annual sales in the city.
Despite the tough environment surrounding them.
local shoppingmalls are striving to deepen communications with
and play a key role in the local community, while actively working
on local challenges such as safety/security and population aging.
Also, efforts have been made to create unique local shoppingmalls
in coordination with local resources as well as staff from the
outside, and there by facilitate revitalization.
The city promotes comprehensive and systematic
measures for revitalizing the central city based on there vised
Central City Invigoration Lawand the basic policies developed
by the national government.
The retail markets in the city are facing an
extremely severe commercial environment and have been decreasing
year by year. Recently, the importance of these neighborhood local
markets has been reevaluated. particularly for senior citizens
who do not have means of transportation including automobiles.
Some markets have started projects to contribute to the development
of their local communities.
The
number of notifications under the Large-scale Retail Stores Location
Law (enacted in 2000) increased rapidly in FY 2003, and has gradually
decreased since then.Recent trends show that newly established
large-scale stores have been on the increase.
