Weather spoils Easter business

The traditionally important Easter business in the British DIY retail sector turned out to be perceptibly poorer this year. Compared with the Easter weekend in 2011 (23 April) the sector recorded sales 11.4 per cent down on 2012 (weekend of 7 April). GfK Retail and Technology, a market research company, reports that the main cause of this was the garden business, which suffered from the bad weather and ended up 53.2 per cent below last year’s result. By contrast, room-specific products were up by 16.4 per cent. Sales of bedroom furniture were 31.2 per cent above last year’s level, while the figures show an increase of 29 per cent for living and dining room furniture, and 19.6 per cent for kitchens.