Homeware sales returned to positive territory on the high street, as overall sales rose.

According to the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like (LFL) sales rose by 1.14% for the week ending 2 June 2024.

Homeware total LFL sales went up +7.83% this week from a base of +1.85% for the same week last year, denoting the category’s seventh positive result so far in 2024 and its best outcome since November 2023.

Store homewares LFL sales soared by +11.42% from a good base of +7.47% for the same week last year, signifying the category’s seventh positive outcome so far in 2024 and its highest since September 2023.

Total in-store LFL sales increased by +1.32% from a strong base of +6.71% for the same week last year. Total non-store LFL sales rose by +3.41% from a positive base of +6.81% for the same week last year, marking the channel’s fifth consecutive positive outcome.

Commenting on the results, BDO said: “For this year, both store and non-store sales climbed this week, which also began with the spring bank holiday on Monday and saw the summer half term break for many schools in the UK. While lifestyle and homewares sales triumphed in-store, especially the latter, total non-store results were largely pulled up by a solid lifestyle outcome.

“This week began with heavy showers and longer spells of rain in parts of the UK before easing to more settled conditions by the close of the week. During the same week last year, the weather was majorly dry and warm with light showers in some parts.”

Overall footfall increased by a blip of +0.3% compared to the equivalent week last year. Retail parks saw the most improvement in footfall this week, rising by +1.4%, followed by shopping centres with a growth of +1.0%. High street footfall, however, declined by -0.7%.