Japan March duty-free sales at department stores surge to record high

Duty-free sales at Japan's department stores in March surged nearly 2.5-fold from a year earlier to a record 49.5 billion yen ($320 million), as demand for luxury brands were boosted by the weak yen amid an influx of travelers during cherry blossom season, data by an industry body showed Thursday.The figure was the highest since comparable data became available in October 2014, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of 2019 for the ninth straight month, while the number of duty-free shoppers also set a fresh record for March at 454,000, the Japan Department Stores Association said.Overall same-stor…READ FULL ARTICLE