Independent cookshops and housewares retailers were the best performing sector in the last quarter sales figures reported by members of Bira (British Independent Retailers Association). The cookshop and housewares sector was up by 2.41% (compared to the same three months in 2018).
The positive uplift is in contrast to figures across Bira’s membership, which experienced an average drop in sales of -2.94% during the last quarter (compared to the same quarter last year).
While reflecting on “testing times” for retail, Andrew Goodacre, ceo of Bira commented on the resilience of independent retailers: “One of the greatest things about being independent is that they can be nimble and change quickly to adapt to changing trends, unlike the bigger retailers. This gives independent retailers an edge and we are seeing lots of our members diversifying to allow them to offer products and services that shoppers need to come to the high street for and can’t just buy online.”
Top: Cookshops have been the exception to a downward slump in sales according to the latest sales data from Bira. (Cookshop interior image is courtesy of Excellence in Housewares Awards finalist Brambles Cookshop, and does not infer participation in the Bira survey).
