[THE INVESTOR] A nationwide shopping festival, Korea Sale Festa, has boosted retail sales after its launch on Sept. 29, data showed on Oct. 5.

The massive shopping campaign aims to tie up the retail industry with the tourism and cultural sectors in line with the major Chinese holiday season.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the top five department store brands and four discount store chains saw their sales increase 15.7 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively, from Sept. 29- Oct. 3, compared with the same period a year earlier.

The combined sales of department stores during the period was estimated at 734.4 billion won (US$664.5 million), while those of leading discount stores came to 507.5 billion won, the ministry said.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)