Warm weather provides welcome boost to Scotland's high streets

Published on Wednesday 20 May 2009 11:20

Warm weather and Easter spending caused retail sales to rise last month, a trade association said today.

The Scottish Retail Consortium said total sales in April increased by 8.2%, compared with the same time last year.

Like-for-like sales, which do not take into account shop expansion or new stores, rose by 4.3% during the same month.

But the consortium said much of the apparent improvement may be discounted.

Director Fiona Moriarty said: "These are strong figures but it's too soon to say we've turned the corner.

"It's hard to make a simple comparison with last year when Easter, which usually helps sales, was in March and the weather was poor.

"This April was Scotland's third warmest since 1914, which boosted sales of summer clothes and footwear.

"But expensive items, such as furniture, struggled to sell because of the weak housing market and jobs uncertainty.

"Total sales in Scotland outperformed the UK as a whole, with Scottish consumer confidence holding up slightly better than the rest of the UK."

Food and drink sales were at their highest rate since December and clothing sales were helped by good weather, although this was compared with an "exceptionally weak" April last year.

Sales of health and beauty products slowed after Mother's Day in March but better weather is believed to have caused increased sales in April.

Furniture, floor coverings, homewares and DIY retail fared worse, the figures showed.

Total sales in the rest of the UK rose by 6.3%, while like-for-like sales increased by 4.6%.