The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that retail sales fell 0.2 per cent to $69.4-billion in October as sales at beer, wine and liquor stores dropped, Statistics Canada said Friday. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe says, however, that the agency's advance estimate for November pointed to a rebound of 1.2 per cent. TD Bank economist Maria Solovieva said the holiday shopping season got off to a flat start. "Despite November's rebound, the underlying trend in real sales remains negative," Ms. Solovieva said. "Only a handful of discretionary categories -- clothing and electronics -- continue to show positive momentum. This lines up with our TD credit and debit card data, which show relatively resilient services spending growth outpacing goods." For October, sales were down in four of the nine subsectors it tracks with sales at food and beverage retailers down 2 per cent as beer, wine and liquor retailers fell 10.6 per cent. It said the drop at beer, wine and liquor retailers coincided with labour disruptions in British Columbia, while sales at supermarkets and other grocery retailers dropped 0.7 per cent. Furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers gained 1.1 per cent.