Small Retailers Report Mixed Christmas Sales

The latest quarterly sales monitor from the British Shops and Stores Association (bssa) reveals that 53% of Britain’s smaller high street retailers reported trading better or similar to a year ago in the run up to Christmas.

But the polarisation between those reporting a successful final quarter of 2007 and those performing poorly is stark.  The average percentage value increase in sales for 51% reporting better performance than last year was 13.6%.  For those doing poorly average percentage value dropped by 11.1%.

Top performers were furniture, furnishings and gifts, glass, china and jewellery retailers.  Hardest hit were music, toys, books, music, computer and telecoms retailers - all perhaps feeling the squeeze from online retailers who had a bumper Christmas.

Looking forward into 2008, John Dean, chief executive of bssa, sees just 50% of small retailer in optimistic mood and commented:

This optimism, whilst encouraging, is not across the board and needs careful nurturing if it is not to be dampened by a faltering economy.  The results reinforce our call for a drop in interest rates to encourage consumer spending and to kick start the economy again.

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