Sales in the week before Christmas were 20 per cent higher than last year
British retailer Poundland today announced that it has had its best Christmas since it began trading in 1990. The retailer said like for like sales in the three weeks to Christmas rose six per cent, while sales in the week before Christmas were 20 per cent higher than last year, at £59m.
“This Christmas, sales have even exceeded our high expectations,” said Barry Williams, the retailer’s managing director for the UK and Ireland.
“Poundland is buzzing, significantly outperforming the market, entering the new year with great confidence.”
Poundland, which was bought by troubled South African giant Steinhoff in September last year, also announced that it has distanced itself from Steinhoff by striking a separate £180m loan facility deal to reassure suppliers.
“Despite the ongoing issues faced by our parent company, we have been able to work quickly over Christmas to activate new sources of funding that will enable us to reassure suppliers, implement our investment plans and secure the future of these successful businesses,” said Andy Bond, Pepkor’s chief executive.
Meanwhile, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has launched an investigation into Poundland’s controversial “Elf Behaving Badly” campaign which featured images of a toy elf using a teabag in a ‘vulgar’ fashion. The watchdog had received about 80 complaints.
Poundland has hit back saying the probe was a “storm in a tea cup”.
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