September 2001 registered the worst set of year-on-year figures in terms of retail sales value since the measures began, according to distributor Seymour's January Monitor. The estimated monthly retail sales value was £124m, 13% down year on year, while the three-month moving average was 4% down on the £139m seen at this point a year ago Tesco and Sainsbury increased their share of the market from July to September, to 9.7% and 5.1% respectively, giving the multiples an overall market share of 24.4%. The independent sector reversed last month's decline by increasing its share 0.2% to 37.4%. According to Seymour, only four magazine sectors showed growth for July-September 2001: motoring & motorcycling rose by 11.5%; comics & teenage by 2.1%; women's interest by 2% and foreign titles rose by 0.7%. {{CTN }}