Dobbies reports best Christmas trading for five years
Dobbies Garden Centres reports its most successful Christmas trading period in the last five years with a number of standout performances for the business.
Sales of the Christmas range rose 9.8% from the previous year. Live trees had its highest ever sell through and Santa suppers and breakfasts were up 41% and 13% in the company’s restaurants.
Keeping up momentum, January sales performed well with a like-for-like increase of +14% and footfall rose +7% over the month, bucking the retail trend. In addition, internet traffic grew by 127%.
Christmas sales +4% like-for-like
January sales +14% like-for-like
John Cleland, CEO of Dobbies, said: “As the first Christmas trading period under new ownership, I’m delighted with the performance which is a credit to the work that the team have put into new ranges, better value, improved customer service and a new approach to digital engagement.
"The solid start to 2017 is extremely encouraging and represents a strong foundation for our new 3 year strategy plan and investment for long term growth.”
Dobbies hosts its first national ‘Customer First Always’ conference in February and later in the month John Cleland is the keynote speaker at Garden Retail Summit 2017.
Click on the above image to view a digial version of GTN February 2017 issue
