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Foyles’ sales were marginally up in value terms in December, despite the mini-chain being hit by a drop in footfall, which it said was a result of adverse weather and roadworks outside its flagship branch on Charing Cross Road in London.
The seven-store bookshop chain saw an overall like-for- like value sales increase of 0.75% in December, although it did not reveal volume figures. Overall, chief executive Paul Currie (pictured) said he was pleased with the results, but he was frustrated by impact of the weather and the effect Crossrail works continue to have on its Charing Cross Road flagship, which takes in around 50% of the company’s total turnover.
“We were impacted by the severe weather around 10th December,” Currie told The Bookseller. “The Birmingham store had to close as it only had one member of staff and one customer in two hours. It really did impact on our London stores from the Sunday [10th December] through to the Tuesday [12th]. The Crossrail works had a significant impact too: they turned Charing Cross Road into a wilderness in December. The Charing Cross Road store represents about half of our business, so it has a disproportionate effect on overall performance.”
However, on a positive note, Currie added that sales at Foyles’ regional stores were around 7% up year on year. “I am happy with the figures the business achieved overall, considering the market [in volume terms] was not really up,” he said.
The retailer’s four top-selling titles were Jamie Oliver’s 5 Ingredients (Michael Joseph), Blue Planet II by James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow (BBC Books), Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo (Particular Books) and Philip Pullman’s La Belle Sauvage (David Fickling Books/PRH).
Looking to 2018, the Foyles chief said he was feeling “positive”, but “mindful of all the distractions going on around us and in the consumers’ mind” in terms of politics and the economy.
The company is currently investing in optimising its e-commerce operation so it can grow its online sales, which it hopes to deliver in the second quarter of this year. “We have seen a growth in online sales, reflecting the continued growth of e-commerce sales in the UK and this is something we at Foyles are investing in,” he said.