The pandemic led to online retail soaring to record highs. While some thought this was the ‘new normal’ in retail, since restrictions have eased, shoppers have returned to the high street in their droves.
In fact, footfall in April surged 7.2% thanks to the Easter bank holiday weekend, the latest figures from from MRI Springboard show.
With shopper numbers up, Retail Gazette takes a look at the retailers benefitting from the resurgence of the high street.
Card Factory
Card Factory saw its profits more than triple as shoppers flocked to the high street.
In-store sales jumped 7.6% on a like-for-like basis in the 12 months to 31 January.
Chief executive Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “These strong results reflect positive momentum across the business, including notable progress on our strategic growth initiatives, buoyed by the marked shift of customer spend back towards the high street.”
The sales boost meant pre-tax profits for the retailer skyrocketed 368.5% to £52.4m last year.
Primark
Primark was hard hit during lockdowns as its lack of online business meant sales grinded to a halt with bosses admitting it suffered a £1bn hit due to store closures.
However, it took no time to bounce back as restrictions eased.
The fashion retailer’s half-year sales soared 19% in the 24 weeks to 4 March 2023.
Revenue topped £4.3bn over the period thanks to “very good footfall” and “good growth in all countries”.
Following the positive results, the fashion retailer revealed it would expand the number of stores in its click-and-collect service to include 32 stores in and around London, as well as the existing branches in the north west and Wales.
Fortnum & Mason
Fortnum & Mason flagships have once again become the jewel of the high street as shoppers shunned inflationary pressures to visit the beloved department store.
Sales surged 35% year-on-year, boosted by a 32% increase in revenue at its London Piccadilly flagship store.
The retailer said it served over 4.6m customers across its store network, up 48% from pre-pandemic levels.
Mamas & Papas
The high street nursery retailer celebrated bumper sales over the golden quarter as shoppers snapped up their purchases on the high street.
Revenue surged 16% over the period, with store-based sales soaring 27% driven by double digit like-for-like sales and new store openings.
The retailer reported its best-ever trading day on Black Friday, with 30 of its 52 stores setting new records.
Following the positive boost in sales, Mamas & Papas revealed plans to expand into Australia, Germany and the Netherlands in the coming months, as well as re-entering the US market after five years.
Waterstone’s
The easing of Covid restrictions saw Waterstone’s’ profits soar as shoppers returned to stores to get their book fix.
Pre-tax profits skyrocketed to £50.6m for the year ending April 2022, up from from £4.2m the year before.
Sales jumped 73% to £399.8m, compared to the £230.9m.
The Works
A flurry of in-store purchases for The Works have helped to offset falling online sales.
Store revenue grew 9.7% in the 11 weeks to 15 January 2023, compared to a 14% decline in the group’s online operations.
The retailer said it was “encouraged” by the strong performance of its stores and expects this to strengthen further.
Zara
Zara owner Inditex hailed a strong store performance as its global pre-tax profit rocketed 28% to £4.7bn in its latest financial year.
The fashion group, which also owns Pull & Bear, Bershka, Stradivarius and Massimo Dutti, posted full-year sales surged 18% year-on-year on constant currency basis.
This was driven by a 23% jump in global in-store revenue thanks to a rise in footfall and store productivity.
Inditex said the flurry of store activity has meant physical stores are now a priority and revealed plans to increase the average space per store by 13%.
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