Record post-Christmas trading for McArthurGlen
Published: 13 January, 2011
McArthurGlen has reported record trading in its 15 year history for the week starting 26 December with a like-for-like sales increase of 20 per cent and a footfall increase of 6 per cent year-on-year across all seven UK designer outlets.
The designer outlet group, with around 700 stores in 1.7 million square foot of retail space in the UK welcoming nearly 30 million shoppers a year, attributed this increase to the rise in consumers receiving Christmas cash gifts and vouchers as a result of the pre-Christmas transport disruptions, which meant that families had to look for alternative gift ideas.
Additionally, booming sales were a result of shoppers across the UK adopting a ‘bargain hungry’ mentality ahead of the looming VAT rise and the big promotions across the high street.
Henrik Madsen managing director of UK and Northern Europe at McArthurGlen said: “While the snow made pre-Christmas shopping difficult for some, our UK designer outlets reported a post Christmas rush, with sales reaching an all time high on Tuesday 28th December at 10 per cent ahead of the previous record day. Boxing Day was also strong despite it falling on a Sunday, with all outlets reporting a total sales increase of 9 per cent compared to 2009.”
Designer accessory and beauty brands reported a sales growth in excess of 50 per cent year-on-year, with shoppers taking advantage of saving 30-75 per cent off handbags and accessories.
