Following the recent warm sunny weather – that included a record breaking May Bank Holiday weekend – retailers, including gift indies, saw sales soar.
Long established independent department store group Tudor Williams (which also includes Elphicks), saw footfall shoot up when the sun came out.
“We had events running in our stores in New Malden and Dorking, where we were fantastically up saleswise,” confirmed John Morris, group managing director of Tudor Williams.
The weather is not the only thing to be improving the department group’s fortunes as a £2m refurbishment is now underway at its Elphicks store in Farnham, while John confirmed that “a refurbishment extravaganza” is also off the blocks at its New Malden store, “where we will be moving away from furniture and considerably expanding our gift offer.”
Among the other retailers to be relishing the benefits of warmer climes is Aspire, which has five shops in the Warwickshire and Oxfordshire areas.
“The warm sunshine came as a great relief after a run of such miserable weather,” enthused co-owners Emma Woodward and Samantha Yair. “In the tourist area of Stratford upon Avon we saw terrific footfall over the May Bank Holiday weekend. In Earlsdon, we were delighted to benefit hugely from a fantastic festival that saw the town buzzing. Everyone wanted to treat themselves with Aspire seeing a significant increase in footfall.”
Meanwhile, in Port Erin on the Isle of Man, Chris Beards, owner of gift and card shop Mantons, said that the exceptional weather on Bank Holiday Sunday and Monday resulted in an increased average spend and conversion rate, with a higher percentage of customers happy to shop. “People were definitely treating themselves and we also did very well with gifts for christenings and weddings,” confirmed Chris.
Top: The recent sunshine was a boost to retailers.
