Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. on Dec. 16 reported 2.8% year-over-year growth in total store sales in November as same-store sales increased during the month.

Same-store sales rose 1.1% from the same period a year ago. Customer numbers decreased 2% but average spending per customer grew 3.2%. Store count declined to 20,974 from 20,986 in October.

The Japanese food retailer also said net sales of its overseas unit, 7-Eleven Inc., increased 0.7% in November. Merchandise sales were up 2.1%, but gasoline sales fell 0.7%. For existing stores in the U.S., merchandise sales grew 1.8%.

The Japanese company's general merchandising arm, Ito-Yokado, saw a 3.5% decline in total sales during the month. For its existing stores, merchandise sales declined 3.1% year over year and customer numbers dropped 4.6%, while average spending per customer grew 1.6%.

Supermarket chain York-Benimaru's total sales grew 2.6%, with same-store sales growth of 0.9%. There was a 3% drop in customer numbers but average spend rose 3.9%.

Seven & i department store chain Sogo & Seibu's total sales and same-store sales both dropped 5.6% year over year.

Seven & i Food Systems Co. Ltd., which operates the restaurant chain Denny's in Japan, saw its total sales fall 2.4% from the year-ago period as same-store sales fell 1.2%. Its number of customers slipped 3.7%, while average spending per customer grew 2.5% during the month.