Bed sales improve as Scottish furniture and flooring retailers struggle

18th February | sales | Price promotions and credit offers buoyed Scottish bed sales in January, according to figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium. The lobby group says that upholstery also fared better than in previous months, but the overall trend for furniture and floorcoverings remains downward, with sales well down on a year ago.

Hard flooring and carpets suffered particularly badly, it says. Clearance discounts also helped sales of fitted kitchens and bathrooms but consumer nervousness remains and people are still veering away from spending on ‘non-essentials.’

Overall like for like sales across all product categories were up 2% - the strongest like for like result since last June. Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC, said, ‘It may yet turn out to be a blip.’

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