Blog: Retail sales - is your glass half-full or half-empty?
- Published: 13 February 2008 09:27
- Last Updated: 13 February 2008 10:12
- Reader Responses
So we are in the middle of a massive downturn are we? Apparently we are. Doom and gloom seem to be the order of the day across the media at the moment.
However, just how bad is this downturn? Figures released yesterday by the BRC showed like-for-like retail sales rose 2.6% last month compared to January 2007. However, for fashion retailers this was tempered with the fact that sales of fashion slowed for the fourth consecutive month.
However, retail sales rising by 2.6% is not to be sneezed at. If this is the worse the doom and gloom can throw at us should we really be worried at all?
If you tell yourself you are sick long enough you will eventually believe it. This may well be the case with the current downturn. Since the credit crunch hit last year everyone has been bracing for a massive 1987 stock market crash re-run. Sure Northern Rock has taken a pounding but this was induced by mass fear from its customers thinking they would lose their savings. This has not been the case.
The same could be said for retailing. Are things really that bad? Yes, there have been companies such as Dolcis folding lately but that is to be expected in a tough climate. If the current downturn is actually returning sales rises of 2.6% compared to last year then just really how bad are things?
What do you think? Is retailing really in that bad shape or are we starting to believe in what we are being told? Post your comments in the box below.
