Womenswear brand Whistles was the top-performing UK retailer over the Christmas and January Sales period, according to new analysis from Jones Lang LaSalle. The retailer saw sales grow 26 per cent year on year in the six weeks to 6 January.
Other brands making up the top ten were Phones 4 U (up 15.8%), Robert Dyas (up 14.7%), John Lewis (up 13.0%), QD Stores (up 8.2%) Dreams (up 7.2%), House of Fraser (up 6.3%), The Works (up 6.0%), Debenhams (up 5.0%) and Waitrose (up 4.3%).
James Brown, Head of EMEA retail research and consulting at Jones Lang LaSalle commented, "A summary review of Christmas trading for 2012 shows that majority of UK retailers saw year on year growth, despite economic headwinds and fragile consumer confidence. The real winner in terms of year-on-year growth continues to be online and those retailers that are out-performing are those that have successfully embraced multi-channel."
"Our insatiable appetite for the latest smartphones and tablets will play into the hands of the technology specialists, but will fuel access to e-commerce. Retail is a resilient sector, sales and margins are under pressure, but it needs to adapt to change.”
