The Christmas that did not come: 2004

Retailers slash prices and keep fingers crossed

Heather Stewart
Sunday January 2, 2005
The Observer

This week will be a nail-biter for retailers as they slash prices to tempt bargain-hunters into the shops and compensate for a slow start to the festive spending season, according to one leading store.
As the January sales get under way, retailers say they are 'cautiously optimistic' that the crucial Christmas trading period was not the wash-out some pundits had predicted.

'There's a competitive element to the discounting,' says David Southwell, of the British Retail Consortium. 'Anecdotally, the last-minute rush did happen, but the big question is: was it too little too late? Even if the rush was quite strong and the sales period is quite good, has that been enough to turn it around?'

One hopeful sign was an increase in the number of shoppers hitting the sales between Monday and Thursday last week, which was 3 per cent up on the same period last year, according to the Footfall index produced by analysts SPSL.

'It's been a good start to the sales: I think retailers by and large will be pretty happy,' said SPSL's Tim Denison.
...
As many of 40 per cent of stores chose to open on Boxing Day, with many reporting that it was like a 'brisk Sunday'.

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