High street serves up a dose of reality for retailers

Sales figures from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker for the week ending 17 May 2009 were as follows:

  • Total Sales: -1.5%

Total sales fell by 1.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

  • Non-fashion: +7.2%

Another strong week was reported by the majority of non-fashion stores driven by solid demand for luxury, gifting and some outdoor related goods.  The only real negative area was health and beauty, where demand lagged.

  • Fashion: -2.5%

Up against very tough prior year comparisons, fashion stores reported lower sales for a second week in a row.  Premium clothing ranges and footwear demand weakened considerably, not helped by the changeable weather, while youth orientated stores also struggled, not helped by discount driven competition from the department stores. More positive news came from specialist, niche brands.

  • Homewares: -15.6%

Homeware stores saw takings decrease by double-digit levels with most areas suffering. Retailers of furniture and textiles witnessed the steepest decreases, while stores with a greater focus on smaller ticket household purchases saw demand hold up relatively well.

  • Non-Store: +56.9%

Non-store sales were again buoyant helped by strong demand for clothing, footwear and accessories.  In other areas sales were lower but were still positive, with outdoor specialists doing well.

Rupert Eastell, Head of Retail at BDO, says: “With a new set of figures confirming that unemployment is continuing to climb steeply, a dose of reality (as well as rain) hit the high street this week.  Overall, like-for-like sales decreased by 1.5 per cent, representing a second consecutive week of negative growth.”

“Non-fashion was the only area to witness positive results on the high street, with sales holding up well. In contrast, fashion results were generally disappointing, while homeware sales dropped steeply.  High profile discounting by some large department stores probably accounted for some of this lost trade, while strong prior year comparisons also dragged down results.  However, there is a sense that consumers are continuing to cut back in some areas as unemployment concerns increase,” he concludes.

Sales this week last year

A combination of fine weather and pent-up demand for new ranges helped sales grow strongly this week last year, with fashion stores (+12.3 per cent) in particular having a very good week. Non-fashion retailers also witnessed marginally higher sales (+0.6 per cent) while homeware sales were slightly negative (-0.6 per cent). 

Source: BDO High Street Sales Tracker

ENDS

For more information, please contact Dee Crooks at BDO on 020 7893 2761 / 07815 172 051 or email: dee.crooks@bdo.co.uk

Notes to editors:

BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker outlines weekly sales changes of more than 60 mid market retailers with some 10,000 individual stores. These are mainly located on high streets through the UK, however, they exclude grocers. The results are published every Friday.

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