Sales remain positive on the High Street
Figures from the BDO High Street Sales Tracker for the week ending 16th May 2010 show overall sales up by 4.3 per cent on the same week last year.
Non-fashion +3.4%
Demand for non-fashion remained strong. Luxury outperformed for a second week and health and beauty sales also increased. In contrast, gifting and general leisure goods did less well.
Fashion + 3.1%
The majority of stores registered growth but while specialists did well, mainstream stores generally underperformed due to a negative impact from department store promotions.
Homewares + 17.9%
Homewares had an outstanding week, with double-digit gains in most categories. Furniture sales bounced back strongly after a number of negative weeks and smaller ticket purchases remained upbeat.
Non-store +35.1%
Non-store sales continued to be positive but slightly below average. As on the high street, homewares experienced the strongest uplift in takings.
Don Williams, Head of Retail at BDO LLP commented:
“This time last year many retailers were in trouble as, due to rising unemployment, people had less money in their pockets. Luckily the employment market is much better this year and solid growth was reported across all sectors this week, with homewares performing exceptionally strongly.
“Our general view is that growth will fade in the second half of the year, but at the moment high street spending appears to be holding-up very well.”
