Non-essential furniture spend rises in September against weak comparatives

13th October 2009 | retail | The British Retail Consortium has cautioned against over optimism as consumers discretionary spend on goods including furniture rose year on year during September.

The trade body says the figures, which show a 2.8% like for like sales rise, were against very weak September 2008 comparatives. This time last year is widely regarded as the start of the current economic downturn.

Total sales across all retail categories, including new stores, rose 4.9% in September - the best sales growth figures from the BRC-KPMG sales monitor since January 2008.