Don Quijote operator PPIH's September sales rise 3.1%, with discount stores still outpacing UNY
PPIH's own September sales flash shows domestic existing-store sales up 3.1% on a 1.5% drop in customer traffic, as a rainy month pushed shoppers toward stock-up buying at Don Quijote even as outdoor categories lagged -- an early public read on how Japan's discount and supermarket channels are faring into autumn.
Pan Pacific International Holdings, the operator of Don Quijote, said domestic existing-store sales rose 3.1 per cent year on year in September across its retail business, even as customer traffic at those stores fell 1.5 per cent, according to its own monthly sales bulletin dated October 13. Average spend per customer rose 4.6 per cent, and sales across all 677 domestic retail stores -- versus 645 compared on an existing-store basis -- were up 5.2 per cent. Over the first quarter of the new fiscal year, July through September, existing-store sales are up 2.7 per cent.
The discount business -- Don Quijote and Mega Don Quijote -- again outpaced the group average: existing-store sales rose 3.4 per cent in September on a 1.9 per cent drop in customer count, with average spend up 5.4 per cent; all-store sales across 549 locations rose 6.3 per cent. PPIH attributed the gain to strong sales of umbrellas and rain gear, plus a rush of liquor and tobacco purchases at month-end, even as outdoor goods, cycling equipment and sports drinks lagged on weaker demand for going out. Beauty serums, creams, bath balls and character-branded clothing held up well, the company said.
UNY, PPIH's supermarket business, grew more slowly: existing-store sales rose 2.0 per cent and all-store sales 1.7 per cent across its 128 locations, even as customer counts there were roughly flat, down 0.2 per cent. PPIH said fresh food -- meat, prepared dishes, and fresh fish, sushi and sashimi -- benefited broadly from Silver Week feast-day demand, while rice sales kept falling against a year-earlier spike. Non-food categories including trading cards, character merchandise, skincare and pet supplies also grew, the company said.
PPIH said September's unusually long stretch of rain hurt footfall more than it had expected across its domestic retail business, but drove weekend stock-up shopping and demand for staying comfortably at home -- the mechanism it cited for the month's sales growth despite fewer shoppers walking in. The company also noted that this September had one more weekend or public holiday than the same month a year earlier, adding roughly 0.7 percentage points to domestic retail sales, 0.8 points to the discount business and 0.6 points to UNY.
The reading follows a record fiscal year for the group: PPIH reported net sales up 8.8 per cent to ¥2.45 trillion and net income up 21.6 per cent to ¥110.1 billion for the year to June 2026, both records, announced in August. September's figures carry the same pattern seen through the rest of the fiscal year so far -- the discount business doing the heavier lifting while UNY's supermarkets grow more slowly, a gap that has held in every month of the new fiscal year's first quarter. Shoppers visiting less often but spending more per visit, the dynamic behind September's headline number, is also the mechanism showing up across much of Japan retail's recent monthly results.
The company flagged one new store for October: a Don Quijote in Higashine, Yamagata Prefecture. Whether the discount format keeps outrunning UNY once the extra holiday day and the rain-driven stock-up effect both fall out of the comparison is the question PPIH's October numbers will answer.
Existing-store sales, change year on year (%)