Department store sales fell 0.5 percent on a same-store basis in February from a year earlier for the 11th consecutive monthly decline, the Japan Department Stores Association said Tuesday.
Sales by the nation's department stores totaled 548.9 billion yen.
The association laid the fall to lower temperatures in the second half of the month and continued weak demand from corporate customers.
Sales of clothing rose 0.1 percent for the first rise in six months as sales of casual wear fared well and more than offset weak sales of spring clothing.
Sales of home appliances, furniture and other household items dropped 5.8 percent, while sales of sundries such as cosmetics fell 2.5 percent for the eighth straight monthly fall.
Food sales rose 0.9 percent for the first gain in three months.
The sales data cover 290 outlets run by 102 department store operators.