NEWS BRIEFS.(retail stores' sales, amendment of credit agreement with GE Commercial Finance by Gottschalks Inc., Best Buy Company Inc's sales)

HFN: The Weekly Newspaper for the Home Furnishing Network, December, 2004

SALES OF RETAILERS specializing in home furnishings were flat in November, while consumer electronics and appliance stores showed a 1 percent increase over October. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that home furnishings stores took in more than $8.8 billion during November, a seasonally adjusted 4.7 percent yearly increase, while the electronics and appliance stores rang up $8.6 billion, which amounted to an annual growth rate of 4.5 percent. Department stores and mass merchants, excluding leased spaces, dipped 0.1 percent over the month, but grew almost 1 percent on a year-over-year basis to more than $17.8 billion. Overall retail sales, not counting those in bars and restaurants, grew 0.1 percent to more than $311 billion. But that amounted to a yearly growth of...

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