Cold weather helps Carpetright pile on sales

Carpetright emerged as one of the few retailers to benefit from Britain’s protracted winter as the cold weather encouraged customers to concentrate on indoor products and lifted UK sales.

The group said today that like-for-like sales in the UK increased by 5.6 per cent in the 12 weeks to 20 April. It was also helped by a programme of diversification and modernisation.

The firm’s store base increased by one during the period to 477, of which 180 have now been modernised.

Chief executive Darren Shapland said: “We are pleased to report good like-for-like sales growth in the UK. Excluding the expected contraction in sales from the wholesale business, our core UK retail business would have reported like-for-like sales growth of 6.7 per cent for the period.

“Whilst the recent cold spring weather has been positive to our sales, we believe this performance reflects the continued success of our programme of self-help initiatives. These include the ongoing programme of store refurbishments, the introduction of our improved laminate range to more stores, the development of our bed business and the increased use of digital media.

“This has been achieved in a market which remains challenging with consumers very focused on getting a good deal, necessitating a highly visible and compelling promotional programme.”

The improvement in the UK was offset by the rest of Europe, where like-for-like sales in local currency terms decreased by 10.2 per cent. Overall, the company said figures were in line with previous expectations.