Homeware sales declined on the high street again, marking a tenth negative week.

According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose by 7.30% for the week ending 19 June 2022.

Total Homeware LFLs fell by 19.78% this week, with in store sales also declining by 8.57%. This week marks the category’s tenth consecutive negative LFL since April 2022, as well as the first negative in store LFL for homewares following three consecutive weeks of positive LFLs.

Total in-store LFL sales were up by +18.30% from a base of +129.94% for the same week last year. Total non-store LFL sales decreased by -4.33% from a base of +11.50% for the same week last year.  

Commenting on the results, the BDO said: “This week, total non-store LFLs plunged after posting positive growth last week, while total LFLs remained within positive but with relatively slow growth. Particularly, the fashion category strongly performed this week, whereas homewares continued a trend of diminishing growth rates.  

“This week saw a spell of hot weather with mercury soaring across mark in many parts of the country. The same week last year experienced high temperature levels with a heatwave towards the end of the week.”

Overall footfall was up by +16.6% this week compared to the same week last year with the high street seeing the highest footfall increase (+24.6%), followed by shopping centres (+17.2%), while retail parks saw a decrease of -1.4% in footfall compared to the same week last year.