Homeware retailer Dunelm has blamed the warmer-than-usual weather of the past few months, which impacted its overall footfall and sales.
Like-for-like sales at stores went down by 5.1 per cent in the 13 weeks to October 1, effectively reducing revenue in that period by 1.8 per cent to £198.7 million.
While the warm weather did not affect home delivery sales, which increased by 17.9 per cent, the company‘s combined store and delivery like-for-likes still went down by 3.8 per cent.
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Chief executive John Browett said: “As expected, the homewares market has fallen due to unusually warm weather and this has correspondingly impacted our store performance over the period given the reduced footfall to our out-of-town superstores.
“However, we have continued to focus on our value based customer proposition and are increasing our market share in homewares, whilst also seeing good growth in our online business.”
Browett said he was looking forward to a stronger second quarter, especially since the firm was investing in extra seasonal space, new till systems and shop refits.
He also re-iterated Dunelm‘s expansion plans for London and the south east, with nine new stores set to open this financial year and four before the end of the calendar year. There are currently 152 Dunelm stores.
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