Mothercare denies clothing slump
Press report rejected by childrenswear retailer
February 2 2004
Mothercare has firmly denied a weekend press report that it has seen a fall in clothing sales.
The retailer rejected a report in the Mail on Sunday, said to be based on industry sales figures. A spokeswoman told news agency Reuters: “It is categorically wrong to say that Mothercare has suffered a slump in sales in children’s clothing.”
The report said childrenswear sales had seen a 32 per cent drop in by value in the 24 weeks to December 15. Mothercare pointed to the figures in its Christmas trading statement which showed a stronger performance.
Clothing makes up about 40 per cent of Mothercare sales. A statement from the company said: “On January 14 2004, Mothercare published a trading update for the 13 week period from 10 October to 11 January 2004 which showed a 2.3 per cent increase in total UK store sales and a 5.8 per cent increase in UK store like-for-like sales. The performance of clothing was a strong part of that mix.
“Mothercare’s recovery remains firmly on track. The sales data referred to within the Financial Mail on Sunday article is wholly inaccurate and does not reflect Mothercare’s true performance in any way.”
Mothercare is rolling out a new format, internally known as Mothercare Lite, in which clothing is an even bigger part of the product mix. The retailer said last month that full-year profits should beat market forecasts.
