General Merchandise Stores

In Norway, general merchandise stores only includes variety stores, as there are no department stores in the country. In 2020, the channel saw exceptional current value growth as consumers looked for items such as cleaning products when the pandemic…

Department stores in France has witnessed a significant post-pandemic turnaround over 2021-23, recovering from a particularly challenging 2020, which marked one of the retail market's lowest performances. The strong rebound was driven by an increase…

General merchandise stores continued to significantly outperform retailing overall in terms of value sales growth due in the main to the continuing expansion and success of variety stores. It was one of the areas least affected by the generally sharp…

Department stores benefited from the increase in inbound tourists seen in Spain in 2023 as foreign tourists love to go to places such as El Corte Inglés to do their shopping and to partake in the uniquely Spanish experience found in its outlets.…

General merchandise stores in Belgium registered a slight decline in sales in current value terms in 2023, despite ongoing price rises. This was primarily due to the negative performance of department stores, which suffered from competition from…

Having seen solid growth in the previous year as the channel seemed to be recovering from the severe impact of the COVID-19 crisis, general merchandise stores saw sales decline again in Denmark in 2023. This came before the channel had returned to…

In 2023, general merchandise stores in Portugal consist of department and variety stores, both of which continued on a strong growth path, recording double-digit retail value growth. In an economic adverse period, selling low-priced products…

General merchandise stores recorded a decline in sales in Switzerland in 2023, mainly as a result of the performance of department stores, which are often considered outdated and old-fashioned and are increasingly being replaced by shopping malls and…

Action continued to record growth in current value terms in 2023, albeit at a slower pace than in 2022. Action is a chain of discounter variety stores which has benefited from the challenging economic environment with consumers coming to its stores…

Within general merchandise stores, department stores accounted for significantly more value sales than variety stores in Turkey in 2023. The only major player in variety stores is German global player Tchibo, while there are three significant players…