English stores score after Rooney's raid

Retailers have enjoyed bumper sales thanks to the feel-good factor created by England's early Euro 2004 success.

Continued sales growth could depend on the outcome of England's quarter-final against host nation Portugal, which was kicking off as Retail Week went to press.

The British Retail Consortium estimates the uplift is already worth£400 million.

Visitors to shopping centres increased for the second weekend running, according to traffic monitor Footfall. Last Saturday, traffic was up 6.5 per cent on the previous week and 9.3 per cent up on the same period last year.

Supermarkets performed strongly on alcohol and convenience foods. Waitrose director of selling and marketing Mark Price said that sales were up by 5 to 6 per cent in the past fortnight compared with last year, as a result of Euro 2004 and good weather.

At Asda, beer sales shot up 60 per cent on England match days, while Tesco expects to sell more than 1 million cases of beer ahead of the England quarter-final clash.

Non-grocery traffic was up 2.1 per cent on last year, according to figures from tracking specialist SPSL.

JJB Sports has enjoyed strong sales of England merchandise and replica kits. Broker Investec said that if England get to the semi-finals it 'would be perfect for JJB because it prolongs home interest by a further week'.

John Lewis said sales of TVs are 50 per cent higher than last year as fans trade up for high-value plasma screens.