Sales at department stores in Tokyo's 23 wards totaled 172.6 billion yen in April, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier, for the second straight month of decline, the Japan Department Stores Association said in a preliminary report Tuesday.

Although sales of spring clothes and bulk corporate demand partially picked up, consumer demand remained slack, the association said.

The size of the decrease was, however, smaller than the previous month's 1 percent decline.