Will it be a good Christmas for UK retailers?
While there had been forecasts of a complete meltdown in the UK retail sector it would appear, according to DSG, that there are signs that the UK consumer is looking at big-ticket items again. Companies such as DSG, which owns Currys, Dixons and PC World, have been slaughtered over the last 18 months as consumers have literally fled the big-ticket market, significantly reducing their spending. So what is happening now?
Despite the fact that like-for-like sales over the last 16 weeks were down 6% at DSG, it seems that slowly but surely UK consumers are putting their toes back in the water. While it would be wrong to suggest that the recession has been nothing but a disaster for the UK retail sector, and in particular the big-ticket arenas such as electricals, if this is the bottom of the market and the sector is turning then the total meltdown which many had forecast may not occur.
As we approach Christmas there are many retailers on the edge of potential bankruptcy and it will be interesting to see how supportive the UK banking sector is prior to and just after the Christmas period. Historically January has been a very difficult month for retailers and next year does not look like being any different.
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