Shoppers take advantage of yesterday’s one-day-only 20% off sale at Marks & Spencer. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 0674316)
HIGH STREET shops are following UK retailers and slashing their prices before Christmas.
For one day only, Marks & Spencer yesterday offered customers 20% off bottled wines and textiles.
Arcadia-owned Dorothy Perkins offered a two-day 20% reduction but Burton has yet to present a similar deal, although it is part of the same group.
‘We do the same offers as the UK, so, if they do it, we will,’ said Burton’s deputy manager Matt Flood. ‘We aren’t doing a sale at the moment but things can change on a week-to-week basis. It’s so quick.’
Retailers are trying to tempt shoppers in a bid to buck the slight downturn in high street sales. The Marks & Spencer 20%-off sale is its biggest one-day event in the British Isles for four years.
Debenham’s & BHS are following suit.
Many are attributing the fall in sales to the economic downturn.
Another belief is that customers are holding back on purchases in the hope that prices will get lower in the run-up to Christmas.
Dorothy Perkins manager Dee Stuckey said that sales were slightly down on this time last year.
‘We are not bad this year, but not as busy as we have been in previous years,’ she said.
‘People are still being quite cautious and they are more value-aware as well.
‘We are hoping that the sale will help as it did last year, but it’s early days yet.’
A spokeswoman for Next said that it was not offering any pre-Christmas promotions.
‘Sales will be after Christmas as usual.’
October saw sales fall by 0.1%, less than the 0.9% predicted after September’s 0.4% decline.
Woolworth has felt the pinch and there are reports that it is to sell its chain of more than 800 stores to restructuring specialist Hilco for a nominal £1.
In September, it reported a first-half pre-tax loss of £90.8m.
Article posted on 21st November, 2008 - 2.29pm
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