Storms lead to 'washout' High Street sales figures
Scottish high streets suffered during a stormy start to the year with the latest sales figures branded a ``washout''.
Scottish high streets suffered during a stormy start to the year with the latest sales figures branded a washout''.
Total sales in January fell by 3.8% compared with the same month the previous year, the weakest store performance since April 2012.
Like-for-like sales, which strip out factors such as new store openings, decreased by 4% according to the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC)-KPMG retail sales monitor.
Total Scottish sales decreased by 2% when adjusted for deflation.
The figures follow a more promising December, when a surge in sales of festive food and drink delivered the best performance for almost two years.
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: Storms battered the Scottish high streets in January, resulting in the weakest performance for some time and a washout to start 2016.
With the month producing 145% of average rainfall and only 63% of average sunshine, it was one of the wettest and dullest Januaries for a century. As a consequence, total sales were down by 3.8% compared with last year.
Food sales were particularly badly hit, falling by 5.8%. Having enjoyed one of its best months for a couple of years in December, the grocers will be hoping figures for January were a consequence of the deluge rather than the post-Christmas diet.''
David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, said: There is no denying that these are dour retail sales figures for January, showing a decline of 2% even once falling shop price inflation is taken into account.
After the excess of the festive period, which saw solid retail sales growth in December, shoppers were clearly keeping a firm grip on purse strings and wallets in January even as footfall improved.''