Leathergoods buck the retail trend
30/04/2008
Poor figures for sales in UK shops of durable household goods, home improvement products, clothing and furniture have combined to paint a negative picture of the retail sector for the month of April. However, the majority of retailers in the leathergoods sector, including leather footwear, have said sales were up compared to a year ago.
The business organisation that has compiled the figures, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), interviews 20,000 retailers every month to gauge their reaction to market conditions.
For the latest study, 52% of retailers said sales were down, while 25% reported an improvement. The CBI subtracts one number from another to give a balance, with rounding up, for the month of -26. This is the weakest figure since November 2005, prompting the organisation to blame poor weather and the early date of Easter as reasons, although it also says that these factors merely added to the general situation of an economic slowdown.
The balance—that is the comparison between retailers reporting an increase compared to those reporting a decrease—for durable household goods was -84. The score for clothing was -25. However, leathergoods achieved a score of +38.
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