Scottish furniture and flooring sales suffer during May

17th June 2009 | sales | Furniture and homeware struggled as the wider Scottish retail sector suffered one of its worst months in nearly nine years in May, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium.

The 1.2% like for like sales fall on May 2008 was the poorest set of figures since August 2008, with non-food goods including furniture and clothing reported to be 5.4% down.

In its category sales breakdown for furniture and floorcoverings, the SRC said, ‘It was another tough month [for big-ticket purchases] with sales well down on a year ago.

‘Housing market weakness and consumer caution in the face of uncertain prospects for jobs and incomes continued to depress trade. Even heavy discounting often failed to tempt people to buy, though some noted better signs in forward orders. Garden furniture showed a modest uplift, helped by sunny weekends and bank holiday promotions.’