Green shoots for flooring?
April 22, 2024
Retail sales in the flooring sector showed the first glimmers of growth in March with strong gains over February and a marginal year-on-year increase that reverses recent trends.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a 1.1% increase in sales for March to £271 million compared to this time last year. This follows a February figure which was nearly 1% down in a series of declining statistics.
Those flooring sales were an encouraging 32.4% up on February - reflecting seasonal factors.
The flooring figure also impressively outperforms the furnishing sector as a whole which fell sharply in March by 7.5% following another decline in February of 4.5% (revised by the ONS from the previously reported 6.1% reduction).
Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the British Retail Consortium, said: “Sales volumes returned to growth in March. While consumer confidence remains weak, it is well above levels seen last year. Large ticket items like furniture continued to sell badly as consumer spend remains restrained by the high cost of living."
Overall retail sales across all sectors in the UK were up in March by 4.6% year-on-year.
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