City retailers see rise in sales
Leicester shops say they saw an increase in sales in January, in contrast to national figures.
Highcross Leicester said it enjoyed a 5.7 per cent rise in sales last month compared with the previous year.
It also experienced a 3.8 per cent increase in footfall compared with the previous year.
General manager Jo Tallack said: "January's figures were strong and provide us with a fitting start to what will hopefully be another successful year at Highcross."
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Data from the Office of National Statistics showed national retail sales fell 0.6 per cent last month, year-on-year.
Some reports blamed the heavy snowfall for putting shoppers off.
However, Adrian Young, centre director of Fosse Park, Leicester, said: "The vast majority of Fosse Park stores are trading slightly above regional and national trends, and our footfall is higher than last year.
"The weather definitely affected business, but not as much as in other areas in the East Midlands.
"The stores that are struggling would be the mid-range fashion stores."
David Illingworth, store director of Fenwick in Leicester, said: "We've had a good start to the year considering all the doom and gloom around.
"We're very much up on last year and footfall is up by seven per cent."
Pete Turner, director of independent city centre clothes retailer Wellgosh, said: "We had a reasonable time. Figures were slightly up on last year. The weather didn't help."
Comments
by PLYMFOX01
Monday, February 18 2013, 4:23PM
“Good news for the Leicestershire economy whereas nationally the trend is a fall in sales. Problem is generally people cannot afford to buy stuff at the moment.”