Christmas shines like a beacon as the big hope for Scotland's beleaguered high street

Published on Tuesday 21 October 2008 22:25

RETAILERS are desperately pinning their hopes on a sales revival in the crucial Christmas period after Scottish shops recorded their worst performance since March 2006.

Plummeting consumer confidence dented high street spending in September, leaving annual like-for-like growth flat – compared to a 3.3 per cent rise the previous year – according to the latest report from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

Only the food sector reported like-for-like growth, rising 4.6 per cent off the back of rocketing prices.

Including stores opened within the past year, total sales grew by 4.6 per cent.

Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC, said the figures showed weakening consumer confidence and the squeeze on household budgets.

She said: "The zero growth in Scottish retail sales in September was the weakest performance for two and half years. As we enter the all-important run up to Christmas, Scottish retailers will be nervously hoping to avoid negative results next month.

"Despite trading marginally better than the rest of the UK, conditions are still very tough for Scottish retailers with the only growth in September experienced in the food sector."

She said that heavy discounting in non-food stores had had little effect – as sales fell 3.9 per cent.

Moriarty added: "This decrease has been evident since the summer but the decline has been getting steadily more pronounced in recent months and will worry many retailers as Christmas approaches."

DIY and electrical goods both sold badly in September as fewer people moving house led to less cash being spent on renovations and big-ticket items such as fridges. Floorcoverings were also affected for the same reason – in both larger projects such as kitchens or bathrooms and also at the smaller end of the scale.

Clothing also performed badly – dropping again on a year-on-year basis – after a small rise in August driven by heavily discounted sales. The sector has now been lower than a year ago for 16 of the past 17 months.

In food stores, winter fare such as soups, roasting meats and root vegetables performed well, while discounts and promotions drew in shoppers keen to offset price rises.

However, food and drink sales growth still slowed to its worst since April.