Strong bounce-back for homeware stores
Website Editor • July 3, 2020
The first data for post-lockdown retailing shows homeware sales, including flooring, were 25% ahead of June last year – the best performing sector among consumers.
The report from BDO's High Street Sales Tracker for June 2020 showed homeware sales up 25.5% on a like-for-like comparison with last year.
This is in marked contrast the overall performance of retail as a whole which shown a bounce in the first week after lockdown ended but then a poorer performance thereafter in the final week of June – sales were 14.4% down. Fashion sales were 21% down, lifestyle sales were 24% down.
"June was the second consecutive month of positive results for the homewares sector, perhaps indicating the public’s appetite for home improvements while confined to their homes during lockdown," said BDO's Sophie Mitchell.
But she pointed out that "retailers have a long way to go to claw their way back following three months of closure.
"The reality is that consumer confidence remains historically low, well below pre-crisis levels. Despite the Government’s ambitious plans, the road to recovery will be challenging and fraught with uncertainty until the real impact of the pandemic is understood," she says," and therefore any early signs of a high street recovery may prove to be a false dawn.”
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