Christmas 2010 Retail Conditions

On Thursday & Friday last week we collected comments from our discretionary retail industry contacts in relation to Christmas trading to date. The response rate was very high, indicating to us an elevated level of engagement and concern within the industry about the current state of play.

We see a similar trading pattern emerging this year as the one we saw in 2009. Sales and foot traffic are sluggish, consumers are price conscious and retailers are discounting early to encourage spending. In 2009, trading conditions picked up significantly in the last 3-5 days before Christmas and the Boxing Day sales were very strong. Thus far, history seems to be repeating itself in 2010.

Please contact Jodie Maker & Lorraine Robinson for more information.