Homestyle hoping for better times ahead
Furniture division still struggling
September 19 2003
Furniture and textiles retail group Homestyle expects better trading as it enters the second half of the current financial year.
In a statement timed for the company’s annual meeting, Homestyle’s said that over the twenty weeks from April 26 to September 13 its beds Division achieved a 1 per cent increase in like for like sales.
The company said the textiles division continues to benefit from the conversion of the Knightingales discount chain to the Rosebys brand, with better margins compensating for a like-for-like sales decline of 5 per cent. Both Divisions trading profits are ahead of the comparable period last year.
However, Homestyle’s furniture division “continues to operate in a particularly challenging trading environment.” Like-for-like sales declined by 11 per cent over the period, but have been better since the August Bank Holiday weekend, when new products and marketing initiatives began to have an effect.
Chairman Sir Gordon Hourston said: “It is still too early to assess the immediate trading outlook in the light of these more encouraging trends. The sales performance of the division should continue to benefit from these initiatives as the business enters the seasonally more important second half which will be against much weaker prior year comparatives.”
