Fall seems to uplift sales at German sports retailers

Sales numbers for September from a group of surveyed sporting goods retailers in Germany seem to be inching into the positive again for the first time since March, according to a monthly survey by the country’s trade magazine sport+mode. In a survey of 77 retailers, September showed a gain in sales of 4.9 percent compared to last year, although September 2001 sales were 3 percent less than a year earlier. Nevertheless, for the first nine months of 2002, overall sales are still in the negative, showing -2 percent year-to-date compared to last year when sales show +1.6 percent year-to-date.