John Lewis warns of bleak Christmas for UK retailers
When the likes of John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and other well-known UK high street stores suggest that Christmas will not be arriving in the UK retail sector we all really need to stand up and take notice. As consumers we all know there is very little spare funding at the moment with many struggling to pay energy costs, mortgage costs and general living costs.
We have also learned today that the fashionable Blacks Leisure chain is struggling and looking to spin off a number of non-core activities in order to raise funds to see the company through these difficult times. Blacks Leisure will not be the only company in this situation and as we have suggested on numerous occasions before, we will see some well-known UK retail companies fail in the early months of 2009. It is difficult to see when we might expect a recovery in the sector as a number of experts are suggesting that the UK economy has yet to bottom out.
While short-term interest rate reductions, hopefully substantial, may help UK consumer confidence in reality will have little impact upon what promises to be a very challenging Christmas period.
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