Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Bira is backing findings from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) that spending on homeware and DIY is boosting retail sales figures.
The ONS released its retail report for August 2020, revealing a fourth consecutive month of growth, with sales up by 0.8% when compared with July.
The report, published today (September 18) said spending on home improvements continued to rise in August as sales volumes within household goods stores increased by 9.9% when compared with February.
Andrew Gooadcre, Bira’s CEO, said: “We welcome the growth and we know from our own membership that DIY, homeware and cookware sectors have been trading well, especially in the local areas.”
However, despite the positive outlook, Bira warned some sectors were still struggling.
Goodacre added: “We are very concerned by the decline in sales of clothing, and it is clear that online shopping in this sector has grown significantly and will remain at high levels.
“Our thoughts now turn to ensuring that retailers do everything they can to keep retailing safe to avoid a second national lockdown. Closures in the build up to Christmas would be disastrous and we need clarity from the Government.”
