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BUSINESS: Positive Retail Growth Continues
Listed under: News
Published: Monday, October 22, 2007
Retail sales continue to drive forward with figures rising by 1.7% in the three months to September, according to a recent report by the Office of National Statistics.
The increase follows on from a 1.3% growth in the three months to August and compares with a 0.5% growth at the same time in 2006. Non-food stores, up 7.4%, enjoyed the biggest increase since October 2004; however the textile industry saw no growth at all. Average weekly sales in September have gone up by 4.6% from £4.9 million in 2006.
Allie Lock from the Brighton Bead Shop has noticed an increase in sales over the last 12 months. “Compared to last year, we've had a much busier summer and sales have definitely been up,” she explains. However Marie Neal says her Bromley-based craft shop, Craft Jungle, has not felt the good fortune of the national trend. “Business is not going well for us; in fact we're thinking of closing,” says Marie. “We opened about eighteen months ago and there was a steady growth until this April but things have just gone downhill from there.”
The increase follows on from a 1.3% growth in the three months to August and compares with a 0.5% growth at the same time in 2006. Non-food stores, up 7.4%, enjoyed the biggest increase since October 2004; however the textile industry saw no growth at all. Average weekly sales in September have gone up by 4.6% from £4.9 million in 2006.
Allie Lock from the Brighton Bead Shop has noticed an increase in sales over the last 12 months. “Compared to last year, we've had a much busier summer and sales have definitely been up,” she explains. However Marie Neal says her Bromley-based craft shop, Craft Jungle, has not felt the good fortune of the national trend. “Business is not going well for us; in fact we're thinking of closing,” says Marie. “We opened about eighteen months ago and there was a steady growth until this April but things have just gone downhill from there.”
