On a day when a number of much bigger retailers gave trading updates department store Beale did its best to attract attention with a trading update that highlighted that the past quarter "has been most productive for the group, with two new stores added to the portfolio."Total group sales including concessions and VAT for the 45 weeks to 11 September 2010 were 0.8% higher than the previous year. Like for like sales were 1.7% lower than the previous year, however, being adversely affected by reduced big ticket sales. There has been strong sales growth from womenswear, toys and linens, the company said.In early September the group secured a renewal of a £9.0m term loan with an operating overdraft of £112,000 for a two year period.