Perfume Shop is close to its short-term target of winning a 20 per cent share of the UK fragrance market, according to chairman Philip Newton.
Newton, chief executive of parent company Merchant Retail, revealed Christmas like-for-like sales up 13 per cent for the seven weeks to January 4 and up 15 per cent in the 40 weeks to the same date.
Overall sales for the chain were up 23 per cent in the 40 weeks. 'It's a strong format that the customer understands and trusts,' he said.
Perfume Shop's pilot cosmetics format opened on November 21 and Newton said he is happy with early trading. 'It's a much more complex and difficult product area,' he said.
However, like-for-like sales at Merchant Retail's department store businesses - Joplings and De Gruchy - were down 1 and 3 per cent respectively for the seven weeks.
Newton blamed economic pressures and the weather.
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