Retail in Asia

In Markets

Shoppers splash out before next week’s sales tax rise in Japan

Japanese retailers are seeing rush demand ahead of the tax increase next Tuesday as fears grow that the hike will take a bite out of consumer spending and derail the nascent economic recovery.

Electric toothbrushes, family-size fridges and washing machines are selling fast at household and electronics chain Bic Camera, where sales in February were up almost 14 percent from a year earlier, despite unusually poor winter weather that might have otherwise kept shoppers at home.

Some firms are absorbing the higher tax to keep prices steady, fearing a drop in customer traffic.