Worst furniture sales for at least nine years, says BRC

16th April | statistics | Heavy discounting failed to prevent furniture retailers recording their worst sales performance in the past decade, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium, the lobby group that represents mainly large chains.

Its BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor for March recorded a 1.2% like for like sales fall, but its first quarter results suggest food sales are propping up the rest of the retail sector. Food sales rose 4.7% while same store non-food sales dropped by 4.3% in the first three months of the year.

But furniture and homeware is the worst performing category. Stephen Robertson, BRC director general, said, ‘There were sharp contrasts between sectors. A slight air of pre-spring optimism tempted customers to buy new-season clothing and women’s footwear. But this is unlikely to be the basis of sustained improvement. Customers are still worried about jobs and their own finances - so they’re keeping spending under tight control. We’ve now seen negative like-for-like sales growth in nine of the past ten months.

‘A revival in sales of big-ticket items would indicate confidence is coming back but, despite the discounts, furniture sales were the worst for at least nine years.’