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First Quarter
T R O P RE
While the high street multiples continue to struggle, with Debenhams going into administration last month, many gift independents have reported a very encouraging start to the year.
were home fragrance, bathing and jewellery, with standout sales from Blomus candles, Bath House and Joma Jewellery. She adds that the biggest growth sectors for the Utility stores are currently water bottles, coffee cups and lunch boxes where people are looking for a reusable option and ditching plastic. The company has also had great success with house plants, indoor plant pots and plant books. “With the warmer weather arriving, we are also noticing that people are happier to visit the stores to make purchases,” Kate highlights. “We are also seeing a surge in the number of tourists who are visiting Liverpool at this time of year, which is also helping to boost sales in the stores, so we’re feeling very optimistic for the rest of 2019!"
Very Positive
A Great Start At Utility, which has three stores in Liverpool, along with a newly opened store in Manchester, director Kate Cowie reports that business has been buoyant, both in terms of bricks and mortar and online sales. "We’ve had a great start to the year and seen an increase in sales in all three existing Liverpool stores,” confirms Kate. “The biggest increase has been online sales which continue to grow at a steady pace. With the addition of our new Manchester store, which opened in March, we have seen an increase of 60% in new traffic to our website from the Manchester area, and are confident that by having a bricks and mortar presence in a new city, it will help increase brand awareness and continue to drive online sales.” Continues Kate: “The early Spring occasions of Valentine’s and Mother's Day were great. While the highest increase in sales came from cards (up 9% year on year for Valentine’s cards, and a huge 33% up year on year for Mother’s Day cards) our other best performing departments Top: Gift multiple Utility has had an excellent start to the year. Left: Mother’s Day was a winner for the stores.
“2019 has started very positively with strong growth year on year in both our stores,” states Jon May, coowner of mooch gifts & home in Bewdley and Stourport. “We saw an 18% increase on Valentine’s, with a huge 35% growth on Mother’s Day sales. Easter is growing each year, with our Easter ranges increasing by 50% this year as people continued to spend on Easter decorations, gifts and cards.” Jon adds that the shops have seen growth across all sectors. “Scented candles and diffusers seem to be strong, particularly our own mooch brand as well as St Eval, along with licensed soft toys from Rainbow Designs and traditional wooden toys from Orange Tree. “Our average spend has increased, especially with the expansion of our card ranges and the introduction of our card loyalty scheme,” he continues. “Increasingly, people are shopping with us for their cards rather than at a specialist card store, and this has pushed our average spend up.” The warmer than usual weather has also had a positive impact. “In our Bewdley store in particular, we have seen higher footfall with day visitors,” Jon highlights. Looking ahead to the rest of the year, he adds: “We are always positive, as we are always excited about bringing something a bit different to the high streets where we trade. This is reflected in how people view our stores and our continued success when there is so much doom and gloom in the media about UK high streets.” Above: mooch gifts and home in Stourport (top) and in Bewdley (left).
PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE
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