Shinsegae said its sales shot up 9.9 percent on-year, which is a far cry from the 1.5 percent contraction reported for May 2017.

The luxury store said sales of men's and women's clothing rose 16.1 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively, while demand for sports products moved up 12.6 percent. It said demand for expensive designer goods soared 26 percent.

The increase in sales were repeated by Hyundai and Lotte department stores during the same period. Hyundai said it sold 6.1 percent more goods, with Lotte trailing with a gain of 5.3 vis-a-vis the year before.

Clothing, cosmetics, sports and imports generated growth for the stores with demand for consumer electronics and home fashion items contributing to the overall good showing.

"Holidays and special occasions requiring gift buying played a part in better sales numbers this year," a Lotte Department Store representative said.

He said sales ahead of Children's Day and Parents' Day were good.

On the other hand, less demand for fresh produces that make up a large part of hypermarket sales, caused a drop in numbers for such retailers.

E-Mart, the country's largest discount store chain, said sales for April and May were off slightly compared with the year before. It said demand for both fresh and processed food fell last month and coming into May.

The company said sales of TVs, refrigerators and washers did rise although not enough to offset the dip in demand in other areas.

This trend was repeated at Lotte Mart that said sales were off 1.8 percent so far in May, affected in part by minus growth in fresh produce.

Related to the differing numbers, an industry expert said sluggish economic conditions were taking effect, with department stores that tailor to the more wealthy, being less hurt than hypermarkets that count ordinary people, who are more vulnerable to weak market conditions, as their main customer base. (Yonhap)