Czech retail sales grew 2 percent in May compared to the same month in 2019. Normally, that wouldn’t be big news, but considering shopping malls didn’t open up until May 11, many will find it extremely encouraging. In April, the same figure, which doesn’t take into account car sales, was -10.7 percent, while March 2020 revenues were 6 percent lower than they were in 2019. The Czech Statistics Office director of services statistics Marie Bouskova said that while sales of fuel and food items fell in May, non-food items rose 2.7 percent. The biggest gains were made in online sales (up 33 percent) and sales for home furnishings (up 15 percent). Among the losers were shops specializing in computers and communications along with sales of goods for culture, sports and recreation (down 1.9 percent). Pharmaceuticals, health care items and cosmetics dropped 9 percent while clothes and shoes completed the bad news in May with sales that were 21 percent off the pace from 2019.
