High street looking up as sales improve

Friday 04 December 2015

Island retailers are facing up to the challenge of online shopping with better services and value, says the Economic Development Minister after another set of positive sales figures.

The volume of sales was up 2% on the same time last year, and Senator Lyndon Farnham – a former retail management trainee at Harrod’s in London – says that it’s a good sign for the high street.

The figures also recorded a 1% drop in the total value of retail sales over the last 12 months – the drop was across both food and non-food sectors.

Senator Farnham said that the combined effect of the recession and the threat of online shopping had posed a challenge to the sector, but that it was meeting the task.

He said: “It is encouraging that we are seeing continued growth in non-food sectors considering the challenges that the town centre faces.

“While retail sales volumes are not necessarily an indictor of overall economic performance, they are important because it’s showing further improvement in the retail sector which is an important economic factor.

“The performance of the retail sector recently proves that they getting to grips with the challenge of providing more innovative products, improving services and delivering better value.”

Tomorrow, Jersey is taking part in ‘Small Business Saturday’ for the first time. The event, which began in the US in 2010, is about encouraging shoppers to spend with small, local firms.

The event takes place at the Post Office in Broad Street.