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.
(Source: The Japan Times Online)