Brazil (Totalmoveis).- Retail sales of furniture and appliances grew by 20.5% in February this year compared to same month in 2010. Such development, suggested by the latest

research from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), was the most important of all categories evaluated, registering 42% impact on overall retail trade in the period. Regarding the month of January 2011, in February the volume of retail sales of furniture and appliances fell 2.8%, while the national average for all sectors together registered a decline of -0.4%. The rate of change so far in 2011 for furniture and appliances is 19.8%.