Speaking to Retail Week, Davies said: “Difficult environments make you look at your business harder and look for opportunities, which is not a bad thing. We can often learn a lot more through times of adversity than we can from success.”
At the launch of Per Una’s spring/summer 2008 collection, he told Retail Week that trade was tough.“It has been the most difficult season for eight years, but I am still confident about next year,” he said.
His comments came as retailers hunker down for bumpy festive trading. Christmas has so far done little to spark sales – particularly at fashion and furniture retailers – and footfall has been poor, as consumers feel the pinch from high interest rates, the credit crunch and falling house prices.
In November, Central London’s retail sales growth was the lowest since October 2005, when the city was still recovering from the London bombings, according to the BRC. They were up just 0.4 per cent on last year, compared with an 8.5 per cent year-on-year jump in November 2006.
Footfall in the week commencing December 3 was down almost 4 per cent on the same week last year. Experian head of business strategy Martin Davies said: “There is little Christmas cheer on the high street. The week’s poor performance culminated in a fall of 7.5 per cent on Saturday.”
December has also brought a raft of profit warnings, with fashion retailers Moss Bros and Alexon warning that profits this financial year could fall short.
Separately, Davies said that web sales of Per Una have more than doubled in the past year. The brand has been sold on Marks & Spencer’s web site since 2004.
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